Thai police working with international agencies to tackle rapid rising of cybercrime

The government has disclosed that nearly 60,000 bank accounts were frozen last year, with almost 120,000 telephone numbers frozen for their use in criminal operations.

According to government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has joined forces with police and other agencies to tackle cybercrime activities. She stated that in 2022, 166 suspects from eight foreign call center gangs were arrested, while 58,463 bank accounts and 118,530 phone lines were discovered to be used for illegal operations and were frozen by authorities. Eight illegal account-trading groups on social media and 1,830 gambling websites were also shut down last year.

Meanwhile, 163,091 complaints were filed on the police website, totaling nearly 27.3 billion baht in damages from March 1 to December 31 of last year. 51% of these complaints are about overseas contact center gangs, 40.5% concerning domestic online scams, and 8.5% regarding other cybercrimes.

The spokesperson stressed that the government is prioritizing combating cybercrime, which has risen rapidly in recent years, and that related departments are working with international agencies to tackle this issue.

Complaints against cybercrime can be made through www.thaipoliceonline.com or by contacting authorities through the Electronic Transaction Development Agency’s 1212 hotline. (NNT)