Thailand Conference Launches International Initiative to Fight Online Scams

According to Associated Press, Thailand helped launch a global effort to curb online scams, in a conference in Bangkok hosted by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, culminating in the Global Partnership Against Online Scams.

The partnership, signed by Thailand, Bangladesh, Nepal, Peru and the United Arab Emirates, will focus on political commitment, law enforcement, victim protection, public awareness and cross-border collaboration, with support from private sector partners including Meta and TikTok. Meta highlighted the rising use of artificial intelligence by scam networks in a threat report, while TikTok joined the partnership and said it had signed agreements with major investors to form a new TikTok U.S. joint venture.

The UNODC estimates that scam centres extort billions from victims worldwide, with losses ranging from $18 billion to $37 billion in 2023, and more than 300 participants from nearly 60 countries attended the two-day event in Bangkok. Similar pledges were also made by ASEAN members, as discussed against the backdrop of the UN Convention against Cybercrime signed by more than 70 countries.