Prawit set to check steps taken to curb online crime ahead of Apec Summit
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will call a meeting with relevant state agencies next week to take tougher action against online crimes as the problem appears to be worsening.
Digital Economy and Society (DES) Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Saturday that Prawit, who oversees the suppression of online crimes, was focusing on a new case in which state officials are being accused of selling people’s personal information to fake call-centre gangs.
Prawit is expected to instruct the relevant agencies to work harder for “more concrete results”, Chaiwut said, adding that tackling criminal activities urgently was in line with the prime minister’s instructions issued ahead of the Apec Summit due next month.
Chaiwut said on Saturday that so far 184 cases of online scams have been cracked, with suspects being arrested for preying on social media users.
He added that the DES Ministry was working with several agencies to tackle the problem of online crimes, including fake call centres, Ponzi schemes, online gambling and e-commerce scams.
The DES Ministry is working with the Department of Special Investigation, Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bank of Thailand, and Finance Ministry, among others.
As for state officials allegedly selling people’s personal data to criminals, Chaiwut said they violated the Personal Data Protection Act and will be punished if found guilty in court. He explained that selling personal data carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison for every count.
“If you sell the information of 10 people, you can get 10 years behind bars. If it is 100 people, it will be 100 years,” he said.
