Fraud sweep causes fallout

In principle, any government deserves praise for efforts to tackle online fraud and mule accounts.

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However, the latest attempt by the Bank of Thailand (BoT), the cyber police under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the police, and commercial banks has drawn condemnation, rather than praise.

Last week, thousands of individuals - primarily online sellers - complained after their bank accounts were frozen. Despite professing their innocence, their bank accounts were flagged by authorities for possible links to fraudsters' proxy accounts. At its peak, between Aug 17 and Aug 23, around 14,000 accounts were suspended. This figure declined to some 10,000 accounts between Sept 7 and Sept 11.