Central Bank Says Call Scams Caused Over 1.5 Billion Baht in Losses

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Thai central bank has reported that “call center” scams inflicted over 1.5 billion baht in confirmed damages in 2021.


According to the latest bi-monthly Payment Insight report by the Bank of Thailand (BoT), figures for financial fraud surged worldwide. In Thailand, 6.4 million call center scams were reported last year - up 270% from 2020. Most of these crimes were committed through cellular and internet networks.


Dusit Poll’s February survey also found that out of the 1,200 respondents, 21% had received calls from scam centers. Additionally, 32.9% of those surveyed said they had second-hand knowledge about scams through people who had personally experienced them while 40.2% said they were aware of them.


According to the BoT, commercial bank data showed that damages from scams were worth around 600-700 million baht in 2018 and 1.2 billion in the following year, dropping to 700 million baht in 2020 before jumping to 1.5 billion baht in 2021.


The central bank said people can inquire about scams or report illicit activities through the BoT’s hotline 1213.


Citing data from “Whoscall”, an anti-fraud mobile application developed by Gogolook, the report indicated that more than 460 million instances of such scams reported to the app worldwide, a leap of 58% from 2021. The data blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the spread of the scams.


Central Bank Says Call Scams Caused Over 1.5 Billion Baht in Losses