If you are an avid online shopper who regularly joins flash sales and loves snapping up discounted items, you need to be extra careful before making any transfers. Even if you made it through the 12.12 sales smoothly, it is important to stay alert during the upcoming 1.1 promotions and beyond. Fraudsters posing as online merchants remain widespread.
Check Before You Transfer
Flash sales are a major marketing tactic used by online merchants across almost every platform to boost sales. Because discounts are offered for only a short period, shoppers often feel pressured to make quick decisions and transfer money immediately. This rush can lead buyers to skip proper checks on sellers, increasing the risk of falling victim to financial scams.
On the Bank of Thailand’s Facebook page, the regulator warns shoppers: “Don’t let discounts make your money disappear,” and recommends checking eight key points before transferring funds to any seller.
1. Are you shopping at a genuine store?
Look for the store’s official social media pages or storefront. Search their name on Google or Facebook to see whether others have reported scams.
2. Are there any customer reviews?
Reviews from real buyers help you make better decisions. Be cautious if the store uses repetitive review images.
Repetitive or duplicated review images on a store’s page may indicate a fake storefront and signal potential fraud.
3. Is the price too good to be true?
Extremely low prices can be a major red flag. If it seems impossible, there is likely a reason.
4. Is the payment channel secure?
Transferring money to an anonymous account or one that doesn’t match the store name is risky. Opt for cash on delivery, credit cards, or trusted e-commerce platforms whenever possible.
5. Is the website or app trustworthy?
Look closely at the URL. Fake sites may use extra or unusual characters (e.g., “XXZ.shop”) to deceive buyers. Ensure you are on the official site — not a copy.
6. Is there clear proof of the transaction?
Keep screenshots of the purchase confirmation, order details, and payment slip. Do not delete them — your receipt represents important evidence.
7. Is the chat suspicious or unusually informal?
Be careful if the seller’s messages seem strange, off-topic, or if they push you to transfer money quickly. These are potential warning signs.
8. Double-check before confirming the transfer
Always verify everything one more time before finally clicking the transfer confirmation button.
If It Happens, contact the Police
If you become a victim of online shopping fraud, here is what you should do:
1. Gather all purchase evidence
Take screenshots of the website or online store.
Save screenshots of conversations with the seller.
Keep the seller’s information: name, address, phone number, email and bank account number.
Keep proof of payment.
2. File a police report
Bring your ID and all evidence to a police station. Inform them that you want to proceed with a full prosecution, not just make a daily record. Do this as soon as possible — ideally within three months of discovering the scam.
Submit the scammer’s bank account number, the police report, and your transfer slip to the scammer’s bank to request a refund or account freeze. You can contact the bank immediately to request the account be frozen.
Contact the Bank’s Call Centre
Sirinuch Pornsathit, 35, an employee at a private company, shared her experience of making an online shopping transfer error. Fortunately, it was not a scam — just human error.
She purchased goods from an online merchant but accidentally transferred more money than required. Ms Sirinuch then contacted the seller to return the excess amount. At that time, financial scams — especially those involving bank transfers — were widespread, causing both her and the merchant to be wary of each other over fear of mule accounts.
“Both the seller and I called the bank’s call centre and asked the staff to verify and clear the transaction. In the end, the merchant transferred the excess amount back to me,” she said.
Social Shopping Phenomenon
Online shopping through social media platforms has become increasingly popular among Thai consumers, with some online merchants and content creators generating significant sales. However, because certain platforms allow sellers to list products without registering as official stores, opportunities for fraudulent money transfers have also grown.
Not only buyers fall victim to fraudulent transfer scams — sellers can also be deceived into sending money through various schemes. As a result, both consumers and merchants must exercise caution before making any transfers.
Sellers are advised to use banks’ transfer-notification services for added security. They should also use their mobile banking app to scan the QR code on the e-slip to verify the authenticity of each transaction.
Measures to enhance protection
In August this year the Bank of Thailand introduced additional measures to strengthen financial security through a new system called “Customer Profiling”. Under this measure, the regulator sets a daily transfer limit of 50,000 baht for vulnerable groups, defined as individuals at higher risk of falling victim to financial scams — particularly children under 15 and elderly people over 65.
According to Daranee Saeju, the central bank’s assistant governor for payment systems policy and the financial consumer protection group, the new measure aims to combat mobile banking scams and helps prevent the growing problem of mule accounts, setting transfer limits based on the risk profile of each customer segment.
Under the new measure, mobile banking users are divided into three groups: suspected fraudsters, general users, and vulnerable customers. Vulnerable customers include those aged under 15 and older than 65.
Transfer limits are categorised into three tiers: less than 50,000 baht a day, less than 200,000 baht a day and more than 200,000 baht a day.
The limit assigned depends on the customer’s risk profile and each bank’s know-your-customer assessment.
The measure has already been applied to new mobile banking applicants, with enforcement added for existing users gradually through the end of this year. Each bank determines the customer risk classifications for its customers based on its own methods.
Customers seeking higher transfer limits can request an upgrade from their banks.
The central bank requires banks to pay special attention to vulnerable groups as they are more susceptible to fraud.
Thailand has around 12 million mobile banking users. The measure adds to existing central bank safeguards that cap mobile banking transfers at 50,000 baht per transaction (with facial recognition required) and 200,000 baht per day in total.
Financial fraud remains a serious concern. In June, 24,500 scam cases related to money transfers were reported, causing total losses of 2.8 billion baht — an average of 114,000 baht per case. The largest fraudulent transfer amounted to 4.9 million baht, according to the regulator.
Across the nation, victims who transferred more than 50,000 baht per transaction to mule accounts accounted for the largest share of fraud cases at 22%, but comprised 76% of total losses.
On average, scammers needed only three minutes to siphon off half of the stolen funds, while victims typically took 19-25 hours to report the fraud.
For the first six months of this year, children younger than 15 were involved in 78,468 financial scams, while victims older than 65 accounted for 416,453 cases.
According to Ms Daranee, the central bank is now working with relevant agencies to implement a range of measures to combat financial crime, seeking to safeguard Thailand’s financial system from being exploited as a channel for illicit funds.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
