Applying for job online can open door to identity theft, warns cyber police

Pol General Damrong Kittiprapas, deputy police chief and director of the Police Cyber Taskforce, on Sunday cited the recent case of a 12th grader in Saraburi. The boy ended up being served three summonses on fraud charges after he innocently provided personal information while applying for an online job.

Damrongsak said the student wanted a part-time job, so he applied to work as a Facebook page admin for a daily wage of 300 baht. His job was to oversee the selling of products via the page.

The student was tricked into providing his citizen ID card number, a copy of his ID card and a one-time password (OTP) sent to his mobile phone.

Damrongsak said once the boy provided all this information, he found himself blocked from the Facebook page.

Later, the boy began receiving messages complaining about goods not being delivered after payment. Shortly after, the boy was served with two summonses from Muang Chiang Mai Police Station and another from Chonburi’s Ban Beung Police Station to face fraud charges.

Damrongsak said the boy had been tricked into providing all the necessary data for opening a bank account under his name and this account was used to receive money from the victims.

Hence, Damrongsak said, jobseekers should be careful or they can end up becoming co-defendants in online fraud cases. He said jobseekers should use the following criteria to protect themselves:

• Do not provide personal data such as citizen ID card number and bank account number to any online acquaintance

• Do not allow others to use their bank account to receive payments even if the job requires it

• Do not share any OTP numbers

• Always crosscheck the name of the company offering the job at the Department of Business Development website: https://www.dbd.go.th/