Mrs. Roong Mallikamas, Deputy Governor for Financial Institutions Stability disclosed that the Bank of Thailand, in collaboration with relevant agencies, has been continuously addressing financial fraud. Past efforts include significant measures such as enforcing stricter oversight to ensure financial institutions implement safer mobile banking standards and elevating mule account management from the account level to the individual level. These actions have led to a substantial number of mule accounts being frozen and made it more difficult to open new ones. However, the changing behaviors of fraudsters have hampered further reduction in financial fraud damage. Consequently, the Bank of Thailand is now intensifying preventive measures by enhancing and expanding the management of suspicious accounts, enabling banks to proactively mitigate risks and address financial fraud more effectively.

Ms. Daranee Saeju, Assistant Governor for Payment Systems Policy and Financial Consumer Protection elaborated that enhanced measures for managing mule accounts include the following:

1. Intensified Crackdown on Mule Accounts: The criteria for identifying mule accounts will be strengthened by incorporating additional factors, such as transfer patterns and transaction values, to address the evolving tactics of fraudsters. This enables proactive action against mule accounts, even without victim complaints, thereby improving the management of mule accounts at each level with greater precision and effectiveness.

2. Stricter Management of Individual Mule Accounts: Banks are required to expand the suspension of outgoing transfers and the refusal of new account openings to include accounts with a high risk of being mule accounts, even if they have not yet been reported as causing damage. Additionally, banks must block funds from entering all types of high-risk mule accounts clearly identified as such. Furthermore, banks are mandated to alert senders when they may be transferring funds to a mule account, preventing losses from the outset and sparing victims the need for lengthy legal processes to recover funds.

3. Broader and More Comprehensive Management: Banks are required to expand the exchange of information by sharing lists of individuals identified as exhibiting suspicious behavior, even in the absence of victim complaints. Previously, only names of individuals linked to offenses listed in the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) database or those reported as involved in fraudulent financial transactions were shared. This enhanced information-sharing enables banks to prevent financial fraud more comprehensively, swiftly, and uniformly.

Additionally, the Bank of Thailand mandates that banks continuously improve their mule account management to mitigate risks from evolving fraud tactics and fraudster behaviors. This includes regularly updating detection criteria, developing systems to identify mule accounts and abnormal customer behavior for prompt and tailored responses, and collaborating with regulators and relevant agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and digital asset operators, to close critical financial pathways exploited by fraudsters. The Bank of Thailand emphasizes that achieving sustainable solutions to financial fraud requires cooperation from all stakeholders, including the banking sector, telecommunications providers (Telcos), other relevant agencies, and the public, each fulfilling their responsibilities within clearly defined regulatory standards. Non-compliance with these standards should entail accountability and compensation for resulting damages (Shared Responsibility). The Bank of Thailand will clearly outline the responsibilities banks must uphold, which will guide the assessment of liability for damages caused by technological crimes, in collaboration with other regulatory authorities.

Bank of Thailand

30 January 2025