BANGKOK (NNT) - The Royal Thai Police have expressed support for a new policy aimed at catching call center scammers, urging phone users to report suspicious numbers or services to network operators so they can be blocked and the perpetrators apprehended.

 

Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, director of the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT), said national police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk had remarked on the growing problem of call center fraud.

 

According to Pol Gen Damrongsak, users of mobile phones are encouraged to report any suspicious calls and ask their mobile service providers to block any numbers associated with criminal activity. The public can call AIS at 1185, True at 9777, or Dtac at 1678 to report these incidents.

 

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According to Pol Gen Damrongsak, the PCT has received 15,557 complaints about call center crimes since March 1. In total, there were 5,311 online shopping scams and 1,884 fraud schemes related to online product reviews. Other calls were made by romance and investment scamming gangs offering phony services and products.

 

Since April 8, AIS alone has received over 1,000 complaints about fraudulent call centers via its hotline and SMS channel, with details already forwarded to the PCT for further investigation.

 

Pol Lt Gen Kornchai Klayklueng, the commissioner of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), said cooperation from mobile operators was critical to helping police deal with fraudsters more effectively, as well as leading to swift arrests.

 

Police said they have been interviewing witnesses and summoning a number of suspects who are currently in Thailand for questioning. Charges against a number of scammers and their associates are also being prepared.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2022-04-25

 

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I have been reporting and calling True about it for the past 3-4 months and haven't see any action on their behalf as still keep receiving some

I get many calls from numbers I don't recognize, just never answer, ignore and block usually. Also get many spam texts since I used to sign in with that stupid ThaiChana <deleted> app. Never read them, delete and report as junk.

I joined LinkedIn a few years back and the scammers started, they haven't stopped. 

 

I used to get a Philippino chick calling me, I started talking dirty to her, the calls from her have stopped. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My son got a call yesterday from "The police" to say he owed money for various speeding offences. He's 11 years old.

Nearly every week I get suspicious calls from AIS, but they speak Thai, so I don't know what they want from me.

But very suspicious, very.

I Never answer a call or message from unknown number… Never. Easy ????

10 hours ago, rbkk said:

My son got a call yesterday from "The police" to say he owed money for various speeding offences. He's 11 years old.

And.?... Did he pay them! Pretty sure he has whizzed by me on a Honda Wave with a 7 year old pal on the back. 

Wife got a call from someone yesterday saying her name was given as contact for a lone for a friend. She just laughed and put the phone down. Unlike many Thais, gullible is not in her make up.

Recently I receive more and more of those phone calls. It's obvious after a few seconds that they are scams. I just disconnect. There is not much point in reporting this. Blocking the numbers has no effect, the scammers just use other numbers.

 

I wonder about the punishment about those scammers. Will anybody go to jail for making and organizing those phone calls?

I have AIS and it lets me 'BLOCK' calls. I'd think AIS/DTAC/TRUE should report the top 5 BLOCKS of the day to the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) automatically.

11 hours ago, rbkk said:

My son got a call yesterday from "The police" to say he owed money for various speeding offences. He's 11 years old.

In Thailand that's probably quite likely.

I contacted True a few months ago regarding suspicious calls on my phone.  I was instructed to block the calls on my phone.  These were texts or recorded messages.   I asked if they take any further actions.  I was told I would need to go to the police.  

Not worth my time and effort. I just don't answer whenever an unknown number calls me. That has been a winning strategy since 2006, they all give up quickly.

 

I've noticed an increase in such calls and SMS messages ever since I registered for Covid vaccinations last year. Coincidence? I think NOT!

22 hours ago, rbkk said:

My son got a call yesterday from "The police" to say he owed money for various speeding offences. He's 11 years old.

There are plenty of 11 year olds riding motorbikes here up country and capable of various speeding offences.

2 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

22 hours ago, rbkk said:

My son got a call yesterday from "The police" to say he owed money for various speeding offences. He's 11 years old.

There are plenty of 11 year olds riding motorbikes here up country and capable of various speeding offences

This young man is taking his sister to school. 

 

Lucky parents, they can sleep in. 

 

 

22 hours ago, swm59nj said:

I contacted True a few months ago regarding suspicious calls on my phone.  I was instructed to block the calls on my phone.  These were texts or recorded messages.   I asked if they take any further actions.  I was told I would need to go to the police.  

The texts are not so easily blocked, often no number can be associated with them on the phone, as name only. I did find a way though, with an android phone, and using a laptop.. you can look at the message on the laptop using the phone app and a number is associated with it, which you can block. 

22 hours ago, Caldera said:

Not worth my time and effort. I just don't answer whenever an unknown number calls me. .........

That's all well and good but calls to me from an Australia land line get routed via some obscure connection here in Thailand and any sort of number appears on my phone.

In saying that I use AIS here and never had one of these scam calls where as TW, also using AIS gets heaps --- tells em to "eff off" in English. She told me there is no equivalent Thai term with the same impact!

On 4/26/2022 at 7:18 AM, RichardColeman said:

Wife got a call from someone yesterday saying her name was given as contact for a lone for a friend. She just laughed and put the phone down. Unlike many Thais, gullible is not in her make up.

Did the call start by asking her name .. lol .. my wife had one last week, a Burmese guy speaking Thai regarding a package she had to pay some extra duty on.
Errr .. so if you are calling me, then you know my name and where I live,  cause it’s on the package, doh. They haven’t quite perfected these scams yet, yet people are handing over hundreds of thousands.

 

Part of one scam is using a (fake or real) police officer on a video call, and people believe it, because it’s just the kind of thing the police get involved with - bullying, extortion, debt collecting, taking money on the side to sort an issue.