The Anti-Cyber Scam Centre (ACSC) in Thailand has reported that cryptocurrency investment scams are now the leading cause of financial losses among online fraud cases. Between October 18 and 24, 6,220 complaints were filed through the Thai Police Online platform, resulting in losses of 333 million baht. This marks an increase of 187 cases and over 60 million baht in losses compared to the previous week.
While scams involving goods and services were the most frequently reported, accounting for 75.5% of complaints, financial and investment fraud caused the highest monetary damage. These scams made up 27% of reported cases and resulted in over 90 million baht in losses. Specifically, crypto investment scams led to 58.9 million baht in losses, followed by fraudsters impersonating authorities, which caused 49.13 million baht in damage.
Facebook was the most commonly used platform for these scams, linked to 54.74% of cases. However, Line was associated with the highest losses, averaging 148,628 baht per case. Bank transfers were the predominant payment method, accounting for 97.97% of reported payment cases, with losses exceeding 216.37 million baht.