Thailand is unhappy that Facebook is not adequately monitoring and eliminating the circulation of risky financial schemes on its platform. According to Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy, more than 200,000 Thai nationals have been scammed via Facebook, with scammers luring them with cryptocurrency schemes and auctions for high returns. Authorities in the Asian country are now planning to seek legal intervention to address their concerns. The Thai government is concerned that such scams circulating on Facebook pose a serious threat to the national economy.
Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society (DES), Chaiwut Thanakmanusorn, believes that Facebook should be temporarily restricted in the country.
“The ministry has sent a letter asking Meta and Facebook to resolve such issues. DES is collecting evidence from criminals on the Facebook platform and sending it to the court.” official statement Say from DES.
Thai authorities claim Facebook is exposing its citizens to financially risky content. Cyber thieves lure victims with cryptocurrency investment advice, get them to trade digital currencies, and manipulate them into interacting with malicious websites — all via Facebook.
More than 200,000 Thai nationals lost a total of 10 billion baht (roughly Rs 23.7 billion) due to these online scams, authorities said.
Since crypto transactions are largely anonymous, many cybercriminals prefer to steal assets in the form of cryptocurrencies. This helps them evade law enforcement officers trying to track down the stolen funds.
According to data from Web3 security firm Beosin, total losses due to hacking, phishing scams and scams in Web3 have reached $655.61 million (approximately Rs. 5,420 crore) in the first half of 2023.
Web3 security statistics for the first half of 2023
:rotating_light: Total losses from hacks, phishing scams and scams in Web3 will reach $655.61 million in the first half of 2023.
Among them,
108 attacks -> $471.43M
Phishing scam -> $108 million
110 rug handles -> $75.87M pic.twitter.com/8Q9kmDETfQ— Beosin Alert (@BeosinAlert) June 30, 2023
Statics Company 3A estimate More than 6.2 million people (9.3% of Thailand’s total population) currently own cryptocurrencies.
Therefore, the local government wants to ensure that mainstream social networking platforms such as Facebook do not expose users to such scams.
“If Facebook wants to do business in Thailand, it must show its responsibility to Thai society. In the past, the ministry has been negotiating with Facebook. However, Facebook did not screen advertisers, causing damage to the Thai people,” Chaiwut said.
Other platforms such as LinkedIn, Threads, and X have also recently become hotspots for cryptocurrency scammers.
Svlook
