Daranee Saeju, BoT assistant governor in charge of consumer protection, said on Saturday (Sept 13) that numerous accounts had already been frozen as the Anti-Online Scam Operation Centre (AOC), together with commercial banks, intensified operations to trace and return stolen funds, reports the Bangkok Post.
“Only accounts that received money from mule accounts have been frozen. The AOC and commercial banks are expanding their probe into financial transactions to retrieve funds connected with mule accounts and return as much money as possible to affected victims,” Ms Daranee explained.
She acknowledged that the measures could impact more people as the investigations progress.
According to Ms Daranee, the BoT has discussed the issue with the AOC and commercial banks, and they have tentatively agreed to adjust procedures for freezing and unfreezing accounts in order to reduce the impact on innocent account holders. Further talks were scheduled for Sunday, and new measures could be introduced immediately afterwards, she said.
She said the central bank investigated the incident and found that it stemmed from two causes.
The first involved a technical error on Sept 1 when some banks failed to update end-of-day transactions, leaving some accounts showing outdated balances.
This was corrected the following day, and the banks were instructed to compensate affected customers and put in place measures to prevent a recurrence.
The second occurred after police ordered banks to freeze suspected accounts linked to scams.
In some cases, the amount to be frozen exceeded the actual balance, causing the system to show negative figures.
The banks were asked to clarify such cases directly with customers.
Ms Daranee said freezing suspected accounts was vital for tracking and returning stolen funds to scam victims while stressing that authorities were working to improve the freezing and unfreezing procedures so scammers were dealt with effectively while ensuring ordinary customers were not affected.
She said agencies would speed up the release of funds for individuals found to be uninvolved in scams and urged customers to call its 1213 hotline for immediate assistance if their problem was not resolved by their banks.
Innocent vendors’ accounts frozen
Meanwhile, bank accounts of innocent online vendors are being frozen after scammers adopted new methods to launder stolen money, the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) said yesterday.
CCIB commissioner Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiwpan explained that while criminals once relied on “mule” accounts, they are now increasingly buying goods from unsuspecting vendors and later reselling the products for cash.
“I admit that culprits are using this more sophisticated method, which leaves innocent people trapped in money-laundering cases,” he said.
To respond, the CCIB has assigned more officers to handle complaints and speed up the process of unfreezing affected accounts. Victims can contact the police station overseeing their case or call hotlines 1441 and 095-425-7478.
Pol Lt Gen Trairong said commercial banks automatically freeze accounts that suddenly receive large sums from unusual sources. This can unfairly trap legitimate vendors, such as those selling electrical appliances, whose accounts are flagged.
He also noted that some vendors knowingly colluded with scammers by staging fake sales to earn illicit commissions. In other cases, victims were tricked, such as when scammers “accidentally” transferred B100,000 to a child’s account and persuaded the child to forward it, resulting in the account being frozen.
Senator Pinyapat Sansaneeyacheewin said the situation has severely hurt online sellers, many of whom rely on constant cash flow to stay afloat. Fearing frozen accounts, some vendors have stopped accepting transfers, while others report customers withdrawing cash instead.