Police are cracking down on “horse accounts”—bank accounts used for illicit financial activity—and a surprising trend has emerged: a new generation, aged 20-30, is increasingly involved in these scams.
Online financial threats are escalating, prompting authorities to dismantle numerous networks facilitating these fraudulent accounts. A recent operation targeted the “Northeastern Horse Account” network, an agency procuring and selling these accounts through online channels, causing significant financial harm to consumers. But the arrests revealed a concerning detail: the perpetrators are a younger demographic, actively participating in scamming operations.
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) reports managing over 2.8 million “horse accounts” out of a total of more than 132 million deposit accounts. Despite over 1 million people falling victim to cyber threats in the past three years, the government has only been able to trace funds back to victims in approximately 1% of cases.
New Tech to Combat Fraudulent Accounts
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How can consumers protect themselves from “horse accounts” and online fraud? A new warning system, proposed by the Consumer Council, aims to directly prevent fraud and safeguard consumers. Suphinya Klangnarong, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Consumer Council, stated that the proposed system would leverage artificial intelligence and computer systems to immediately check and notify users of incoming calls from reported “horse numbers” or suspicious accounts, even identifying the caller.
The Council also advocates for an automatic notification and blocking system. If a number is identified as illegal—a pirated SIM or a SIM box—the operator’s system should automatically block it, reducing consumer risk by an estimated 20-30%. Consumers would also be empowered to report fraudulent numbers, triggering immediate notifications for others who receive calls from those numbers. Furthermore, verification of the identity of entities claiming to be government agencies, hospitals, or banks would be implemented to prevent impersonation.
This push for enhanced consumer protection stems from a lack of urgent warning systems. The Consumer Council is proposing a collaborative solution: a public, free-to-use system to check telephone numbers and accounts for potential ties to fraudulent activity. They’ve requested the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DE) collaborate with the Office of the Broadcasting Commission and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC Office) to create this system, urging the NBTC to issue new technology crime prevention measures within 30 days.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nuannoi Treerat, a Member of the Monetary and Banking Policy Committee, highlighted the need for proactive measures and victim compensation. The Consumer Council is advocating for two key policies: measures to prevent damage in the financial system, including delaying transactions over 10,000 baht for 24 hours to allow for review and verification, and the establishment of a compensation fund to provide immediate financial relief to victims, bypassing lengthy legal processes.
Surge in Online Threats
Consumer complaints submitted to the Consumer Council in 2025 totaled 23,703, representing a cumulative damage value of 4,744 million baht. The most frequent complaints involved defective or damaged products, and deceptive or disturbing text messages (SMS), accounting for 1,279 complaints.
To combat these rising threats, the Consumer Council is championing policies such as seller identity verification, quick refund systems, personal information protection, and warnings against AI-powered impersonation and voice spoofing. Financial measures like delayed transactions are also being promoted to give consumers and banks time to identify and prevent fraudulent activity.
