New e-wallet scam empties bank accounts in minutes, police warn

Police on Friday warned Thais of a new scam that is capable of emptying a victim’s bank account in minutes after he or she is lured into pressing “yes” to a pop-up request asking if the victims wants to link his/her account to an electronic wallet.

A recent online post of the Royal Thai Police’s Thailand Action Taskforce for Information Technology Crime Suppression (Tactics) via facebook.com/tacticspolice/ said most victims were those selling goods online who often revealed their bank account numbers on public posts. 

The culprit would pretend to be a customer wanting to buy goods and ask for the seller’s Thai ID card number, phone number and other personal information, which would be used to open an e-wallet account. The culprit would then link this e-wallet account to the seller’s bank account and the seller would receive a lengthy notification via cell phone, asking if he or she wanted to link his or her bank account to an e-wallet account. 

Unfortunately, many people didn’t bother to read the details and assuming the notification was harmless, pressed “accept” or “yes”.

That linked the victim’s mobile banking account to the culprit’s e-wallet account, allowing the culprit to empty the bank account within minutes, police said.

Cancellation of the linkage cannot be done online or via an app so victims can only get it reversed at the e-wallet service provider’s shop, police said, urging people to beware of this trick, always read the details carefully and refrain from pressing “accept” to any suspicious notification/request.

The Nation

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