The Bank of Thailand warns that online financial fraud is increasing as criminals turn to false base stations.
The new technique sees fraudsters send text messages to consumers to convince them to install malware- embedded apps on their phones. The malware lets hackers remotely monitor and control the phone to transfer money from the user’s bank account.
Consumers are advised by the central bank not to click on any links sent via these notifications in order to avoid the attempts at fraud.
The Bank of Thailand is warning consumers and banks to be wary of elevated online financial fraud stemming from so-called false base stations.
The central bank has implemented several measures to prevent, detect and respond to fraudulent financial activities, in line with the new Royal Decree on Cyber Crime Prevention and Suppression, which has been effective since March this year.
Fraud levels were steady in March and April, but flared up from May as a result of new methods, specifically “sting rays”, said Siritida Panomwon Na Ayudhya, the central bank’s assistant governor for payment systems policy and financial technology group.
With the new techniques, fraudsters use false base stations to send text messages to consumers to convince them to install malware-embedded applications on their phones. The malware lets the hacker remotely monitor and control the phone to transfer money from the user’s bank account.
Criminals adopted the technique after banks stopped sending text messages to clients in compliance with the central bank’s new measures.
“The new version of fake text messages comes with a web link. Consumers should be wary about such notifications, and should not click on the links to be protected from fraud,” Ms Siritida said.
According to the central bank’s data, losses from fake mobile banking apps declined to 116 million baht in April from 135 million the previous month, but rose significantly to 200 million in May and 173 million in June. As a result, the regulator decided to tighten its fraud supervision.
She said “mule” bank accounts, which are illegal deposit accounts, have declined following the new decree and central bank measures, which include facial scans.
Under the measures, customers transferring 50,000 baht or more via mobile banking, or whose transactions exceed a daily limit of 200,000 baht, are required to verify their identities via facial recognition systems starting from June.
Banks reported 9,000 frozen accounts deemed mules in both May and June, up from 6,000 accounts in April and 5,000 in March.
The Bank of Thailand urged financial institutions to consistently upgrade their security systems for high-value mobile banking transactions through biometric authentication, as part of measures to protect consumers from cyber-risks.
Ms Siritida said the central bank continues to introduce measures to prevent and deal with new types of fraud.
These prevention efforts include updates of banks’ security systems for mobile banking, obstructing fraudulent websites, and setting up an online channel for financial fraud notifications.
The central bank said it is ready to adopt and implement additional anti- fraud measures. The decree gives victims, banks and the authorities more options to combat online scams and other illegal online activities.
The law allows victims of online scams to immediately file for the suspension of a mule account set up to take advantage of their stolen identity.
The decree also gives banks the authority to temporarily suspend a suspected mule account, as well as use artificial intelligence technology to investigate illicit transactions.
