THE Thai police will now receive online complaints against cybercrimes as more such cases are being reported in the country.
The Bangkok Post reports that the police now has a centre for this purpose and was working together with 21 banks, with a Memorandum of Understanding signed on Monday.
National police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk said the MoU was signed between the police, the Government Financial Institutions Association, the Thai Bankers’ Association and 21 bank members to assist in the setting up of the centre and deter technological crimes.
With the new centre, people can now lodge complaints about cybercrimes at www.thaipoliceonline.com.
Once a complaint is filed, they will receive a case ID, and it will then be forwarded to the relevant local police station for further investigations.
The progress of the investigation can be monitored via an interactive online platform.
Pol Gen Suwat said the platform will reduce waiting times at police stations and speed up the process of banks annulling fraudulent financial transactions.
The centre will also enable police to connect criminal activities in different areas and speed up the process of getting arrest warrants.
The platform will have 8,383 administrators and case managers, 10,487 investigators, 12,305 officers, with all having received the necessary training.
Meanwhile, Thai police said illegally used mobile phone SIM cards and proxy bank accounts were vital jigsaw pieces in many online fraud and gambling cases.
A Post report said the link was illustrated by recent crackdowns on two major distributors of illegal SIM cards in Bangkok and Chiang Rai, which revealed an extensive and complex network behind the notorious “call centre” scam.
Over 10,000 illegal SIM cards were seized in the crackdowns, which were led by the Cyber Crime Investigation Centre.
About some 8,500 of the SIM cards were found to have been registered using the identity cards of Myanmar and Cambodian citizens.
Further investigations showed that the SIM cards were found to have been linked to numerous bank accounts that were being used to receive funds sent by scam victims.
Police are now checking to see if more such SIM cards could be linked to fraudulent accounts and if detected, bank accounts can be suspended immediately to prevent victims’ money from getting transferred to off-shore accounts.
Thai laws prohibit an individual from owning more than five SIM cards, except those with approval from relevant authorities.
However, it is said the rule is not being enforced and the lack of enforcement has allowed online scams to develop into more complex operations.
According to the report, some criminals were known to have pretended to be state officials representing the police, Narcotics Control Board, the Revenue Department and even the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
They would convince their victims that drug money was somehow transferred into their account and that they will have to pay a fee to have the funds removed or risk facing legal action.
The scammers would also ask the victims to disclose their national ID card and bank account numbers.
After the victims complete the money transfer, the scammers quickly transfer the funds to overseas accounts in China, Taiwan, Cambodia and Myanmar and they have made billions of baht each year.
Authorities have said that once the money leaves Thailand, it is very difficult to get it back.
Cyber investigation director Pol Lt Col Chalermchonm said some of the gangs were known to be masterminded by Chinese and Taiwanese nationals, in collusion with Thai citizens.
Sutthisak Tantayoti, deputy secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said SIM cards can now be bought only at authorised shops run by the mobile phone network providers.
Previously, anyone could easily go to any shop to purchase a SIM card.
“Authorised shops are also required to record the details of any person who has more than five SIM cards. The commission will investigate to see what the cards are being used for,” he said.
He said the NBTC tried to strictly enforce the cap on SIM card ownership, but the move drew flak from critics who insisted it was a violation of their rights.
The commission is now looking to revive the regulation and the limit may be capped at 20 SIM cards instead of five, he said.
Source: New Straits Times
