The Bank of Thailand and the Thai Bankers Association (TBA) have dismissed a widespread suggestion on social media, claiming that a charging cable can be used to steal data stored in smart phones.
In fact, they said that data in smart phones are stolen by scammers when the phone users download applications or fake SMS messages containing malware, specifically designed to gain unauthorised access to information on the phones.
According to banking sources, the central bank has issued a set of measures, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Royal Thai Police, for financial institutions to deal with the latest tricks used by online scammers to steal money.
The proposed measures include constant updating of security systems of mobile banking systems, staying ahead or catching up with scammers’ tricks, the closing of fake websites by the DES Ministry, the opening of more convenient channels through which duped customers can file complaints and lock their accounts quickly and regular publicity campaigns to remind bank customers of the dangers of online scammers.
There is also a list of advice from the central bank and TBA for bank customers, such as not clicking on links from SMS, Line or in unknown or unfamiliar e-mails, not downloading programs from unknown or unauthorised sources, updating the mobile banking system on regular basis, not using other people’s smart phones to conduct banking transactions and immediately reporting suspicious transactions to their banks.
