The founder of Super Poll for cyber security is advising government security agencies to take additional precautionary measures against possible cyber attacks related to the proposed “digital wallet” scheme.

Assistant Professor Noppadon Kannika, also a member of the national police policy committee, said that the scheme, which involves about 50 million Thai people receiving 10,000 baht each, would be a massive incentive for online scammers to develop technology to siphon off money from its recipients by attacking the “pao tang” application and system, which are expected to be used in the scheme.

He said that the weak point of scheme is the use of cell phones to access the 10,000 baht benefit, if hackers obtain users’ ID card and bank account information.

Noppadon cited a case about two years ago when the blockchain system, which is regarded as being very secure, was hacked, resulting in damage estimated at about 10 billion baht.

He claims that, according to opinion surveys, about 76% of the respondents admitted to having been duped by online scammers at least once, including more than half of the officials in charge of cyber security. Scammers use numerous tactics, such as fake links in short messages or emails, to lure victims into clicking on the links, which could result in their bank accounts being emptied.

He suggests that the government give the highest priority to cyber security before the launch of the digital wallet scheme, tentatively scheduled for next May, by enhancing security systems and reminding the people of the ubiquitous presence of online scammers.

The professor said that the Royal Thai Police have opened a website, “chaladohn.com”, which provides information to the public about how to protect themselves against scammers.