Thailand joins IMF, World Bank in global fight against digital scams

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank Group and Bank of Thailand (BOT) have launched the Bangkok Blueprint for Fraud-Resilient Financial Services, a global framework aimed at helping countries prevent, detect and respond to the growing threat of cyber-enabled fraud in digital finance.

The framework was unveiled in Bangkok on October 14 during the 2026 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group.

Developed in coordination with the BOT, the Bangkok Blueprint sets out 12 key considerations under five pillars, covering national strategy and legislation, fraud prevention and detection, enforcement, domestic and cross-border cooperation, and consumer protection.

The initiative comes as digital financial services continue to expand access, encourage innovation and improve efficiency, while also allowing fraud to spread with greater speed, scale and sophistication.

Cyber-enabled fraud is increasingly linked to transnational organised crime and has been identified by INTERPOL as one of the world’s most serious crime threats, alongside drug trafficking and money laundering.

Fraud schemes increasingly span social media, digital platforms, e-commerce services, telecommunications networks and financial institutions, making cooperation across sectors and national borders increasingly important.

Thailand pushes connected response to digital fraud

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the increasingly interconnected nature of digital finance required an equally connected response to fraud.

“As digital finance becomes increasingly interconnected, our response to fraud must be equally connected,” Ekniti said.

“The Bangkok Blueprint provides a foundation for stronger cooperation and collective action to protect citizens and strengthen trust in the digital economy.”

BOT Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said no country or institution could tackle cyber-enabled fraud alone.

“The Bangkok Blueprint reflects our shared commitment to strengthen cooperation, build trust and promote a safe and inclusive digital financial future for all,” he said.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stressed that public confidence was fundamental to the functioning of financial systems.

“Trust is the foundation of every financial system,” Georgieva said. “As digital finance expands, countries must work together to combat cyber-enabled fraud and preserve confidence in the technologies that support growth and inclusion.”

Anshula Kant, Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer, said digital finance had become an important driver of economic opportunity, job creation and financial inclusion, particularly in developing economies.

Strengthening protection against fraud was therefore essential to ensure that people could use digital services confidently and benefit fully from the opportunities they created, she said.

Five pillars for stronger protection

The Bangkok Blueprint is built around five pillars containing 12 key considerations that countries can adapt to their own legal systems, institutions and market conditions.

The first pillar, Establish Strategic and Legal Foundations, calls for countries to develop comprehensive national strategies for fraud-resilient digital finance based on evolving risk assessments.

Governments should assign clear institutional responsibilities, establish measurable objectives and align anti-fraud efforts with broader public policy.

It also calls for robust legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks that give authorities sufficient powers to determine liability, protect financial consumers, share information quickly and take urgent action to freeze and trace proceeds from fraud.

Prevention built into financial services

The second pillar, Strengthen the Fraud-Mitigation Life Cycle, focuses on preventing fraud before losses occur and improving responses when incidents take place.

Financial institutions and service providers are encouraged to build fraud-resilience into products from the design stage, including stronger authentication systems and real-time transaction screening.

The framework also calls for coordinated prevention across the financial system to identify weaknesses early, disrupt criminal networks and shut down channels used for scams.

Countries should develop fraud-detection systems that combine monitoring by individual institutions with real-time information-sharing and joint analysis across the wider financial ecosystem.

The blueprint also recommends rapid mechanisms for limiting losses, standardised incident reporting and fair arrangements for consumer remediation and recovery.

Existing cyber and anti-money laundering tools

The third pillar, Leverage Existing Risk Mitigation and Enforcement Frameworks, calls for stronger cyber readiness across the financial sector.

Financial-service providers and critical infrastructure should strengthen cybersecurity and cyber-hygiene standards to reduce vulnerabilities that criminals can exploit.

Countries are also encouraged to make greater use of existing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks, including customer due diligence and suspicious-transaction monitoring, to prevent fraudsters from moving or laundering stolen funds.

Law-enforcement agencies should prioritise high-impact cases, target transnational organised crime, seize criminal assets and publicise successful enforcement actions to strengthen deterrence.

Cross-border cooperation at centre of strategy

The fourth pillar, Expand Domestic and Cross-Border Coordination and Cooperation, reflects the increasingly international nature of digital fraud.

The blueprint calls for stronger public-private cooperation involving banks and other financial institutions, telecommunications companies, digital platforms, social-media providers and law-enforcement agencies.

It also encourages countries to establish arrangements for rapid international information-sharing and cross-border freezing of stolen funds.

Such mechanisms could become increasingly important as criminal networks move money rapidly between accounts, financial institutions and jurisdictions after victims are deceived.

Consumer protection forms final pillar

The fifth pillar, Promote Consumer Protection and Resilience, focuses on strengthening the ability of consumers to protect themselves and obtain help after fraud occurs.

Governments and financial-service providers are encouraged to improve awareness of digital financial risks and consumer rights, while ensuring that people have easy-to-use channels for reporting fraud.

The framework also calls for clear mechanisms governing compensation and recovery where consumers suffer losses.

The IMF and World Bank Group said countries should adapt the 12 considerations to their individual legal, institutional and market circumstances rather than apply a single model universally.

By strengthening accountability and encouraging timely cooperation between government agencies and the private sector, both domestically and internationally, the Bangkok Blueprint aims to build a safer and more trusted digital financial ecosystem.

Its broader objective is to allow countries to continue expanding digital finance and financial inclusion without allowing fraud to undermine public trust, economic opportunity and sustainable growth.