Cyber scams: Top bankers unite to battle rise in financial crime

Senior officials from the Bank of Thailand (BOT), the Thai Bankers' Association (TBA), and the Government Financial Institutions Association (GFIA) gathered for the press conference at BOT headquarters to announce new measures to tackle the rise in cyber crime.

This followed the central bank’s announcement on Thursday that it had launched a set of standard measures for commercial banks and financial institutions to follow to curb cyber crime.

Heightened security measures are being taken in response to the increase in crimes carried out via fake short messages, call centres, and mobile applications that dupe people into transferring money or take control of their smartphones remotely and empty their bank accounts via applications.

Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya, assistant governor in charge of the BOT’s Payment Systems Policy and Financial Technology Group, said the central bank was aware of the scams and required all financial institutions to address them seriously.

The central bank called a meeting of executives from all financial institutions to ensure that its preventive measures are implemented as quickly as possible, she said.
 

BOT Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said on Thursday that a requirement for biometric verification for mobile banking transactions was among the heightened preventive measures.

For example, bank customers who want to transfer more than 50,000 baht through a mobile banking app will be required to use biometric verification, such as facial or fingerprint scans, as part of the process.

The new set of measures requires financial institutions to make quicker moves to restrict damage caused to their customers and reduce the use of mule accounts, Sethaput said.

Financial institutions have to develop a system to detect suspicious transactions with “near real-time” capability to allow immediate cancellations of such transactions, he said.

Every financial institution is required to have a round-the-clock hotline centre for victims of online banking scams to report their cases for quick action.

The central bank has instructed all financial institutions to be ready to implement the measures this month, Sethaput said, adding that some measures have been implemented already.

TBA chairman Payong Srivanich told Friday’s press conference that his association was aware of the worsening problem and that it was well prepared to step up security measures in line with the central bank’s recommendations.

Payong, who is also Krungthai Bank president, said that commercial banks would stop sending short messages with web links to their customers as online scammers have used this method to lure victims into installing malicious apps on their smartphones that allow scammers to access them remotely.
 

“We are constantly improving our security systems to prevent fraudulent transactions. Member banks are acquiring technology to help them detect suspicious transactions,” he said.

The association’s member banks are developing a system that will allow them to share information on suspicious transactions and mule bank accounts used by scammers for better response to scams, he said.

Many member banks have already opened 24/7 call centres for victims to report scams, he added.

GFIA chairman Chatchai Sirilai told the press conference that financial institutions in his association had adopted measures to prevent banking scams and were educating their customers about cyber crimes.

They have stopped sending SMS messages with web links to customers and opened hotlines for victims to report scams, he said.

Chatchai, who also serves as president of the Government Housing Bank, said that the Thai banking sector is preparing to enforce measures set in a draft law for the prevention and suppression of technology crimes, which is expected to tackle the problem comprehensively when it is enacted.