Publication date: December 31, 2023 04:44
Last month, two Taiwanese and Japanese men were arrested in Thailand on suspicion of defrauding Japanese victims of 9 billion baht in a telephone scam. (Police file photo)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) has flagged five types of cybercrimes that have been prevalent over the past year and warned people against being fooled online.
The first involves call center scammers who are said to be constantly coming up with new tactics to scam people.
Some people pretend to be state employees and use suspicious phone numbers to blackmail victims. According to the CIB, some scammers send SMS containing links to trick victims into accessing their bank accounts.
The other is online shopping scammers who set up fake retail websites to deceive their victims. Some are asking shoppers to send money online for items they won’t receive. In some cases, shoppers receive products that are counterfeit, low-quality and not as advertised, CIB said.
Another type of scam involves “hybrid techniques” where victims are lured into a relationship with a scammer before being asked to invest money in a bogus investment scheme. According to the CIB, victims are often left deceived.
Romance scammers create fake profiles on dating sites to lure victims or use social media to contact victims. Scammers build relationships and gain trust with their victims before fabricating stories and demanding money.
Recruitment scams targeting job seekers are also occurring. Victims are often tricked into handing over money and divulging personal information. Some scammers ask victims to pay upfront fees while advertising high-paying jobs. Victims are promised high-paying jobs abroad, but must first pay hefty fees. However, they will never be sent abroad as promised, CIB said.
More than 314,000 complaints were filed with the police between March 1st and December 20th last year. Of these, 160,819 were shopping frauds, 50,536 were recruitment frauds, 43,193 were loan frauds, 32,501 were investment frauds, and 27,620 were call center frauds.