On March 23rd , the Bank of Thailand (BOT) issued additional measures to combat financial fraud. These measures require financial institutions to comply with minimum standards to prevent, detect and respond to fraudulent activities. Both the Thai Bankers’ Association and the Government Financial Institutions Association supported these financial fraud measures in order to mitigate losses and reduce the use of fake accounts.
The preventive measures include a ban on sending links in SMS or email and a ban on sending links requesting personal information such as usernames, passwords, and ID numbers via social media. For each mobile banking application, the digital security system must be constantly upgraded. Biometric authentication will also be required when customers open a new bank account through an app, conduct digital transfers of more than 50,000 baht, or change the daily transfer limit to over 50,000 baht.
BOT also sets criteria for detecting and monitoring suspicious transactions. This includes reporting suspicious transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering Office and setting up a near real-time detection system that can temporarily freeze suspicious transactions. The responsive measures set forth that all financial institutions are required to set up a 24-hour hotline call center specifically for financial fraud victims to contact, and to be responsive when a loss occurs from the financial institutions.
The BOT’s measures are only one element in an overall strategy to combat financial fraud before the government issue the Royal Decree on Cybercrime Prevention and Suppression. This Decree will empower the implementation of technical measures such as data sharing on suspicious transactions between financial institutions and authorities, immediate blocking of suspicious transactions and imposing penalties.
