Thai banks suspend 34,000 accounts linked to scammers
Thai Bankers Association blacklists 15,000 individuals identified by AI-driven system to have opened mule accounts for call-centre gangs
The Thai Bankers Association (TBA) has blacklisted 15,000 Thais and suspended 34,000 bank accounts that had been opened by them to be used by call-centre scammers.
TBA chairman Payong Srivanich said on Monday that the online Cross-Reference File (CRF) system developed by the association identified more than 15,000 individuals involved in money laundering.
He said the TBA expects the AI-driven CRF system to lead to the suspension of more suspected mule bank accounts.
The system has studied the information provided by commercial banks over the past nine months, before they began sharing data through the online CFR system last month.
Payong said all commercial banks will use information provided by the CFR system and the Anti-Money Laundering Office to blacklist suspected owners of mule bank accounts and suspend or terminate accounts.
Meanwhile, Ronadol Numnonda, deputy governor of the Bank of Thailand, thanked commercial banks for complying with the central bank’s policy to upgrade measures to fight online fraud by targeting individuals, instead of bank accounts.
He said that after the CFR system went online on August 1, all commercial banks began actively exchanging information to help fight online fraud.
Ronadol said the CFR system allows banks to identify suspected owners of mule bank accounts quickly and block them from using their accounts for online transactions or to open new accounts.
The blacklisted individuals are required to meet officials of the Anti-Online Scam Operation Centre to clear themselves before the banks unfreeze their accounts, Ronadol added.
