Thailand Could Shut Down Facebook (Meta) Over Crypto Scam Allegations

Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society (DES) said he might propose to the court to close Meta (previously known as Facebook) to aid the investing of financial scams, including such involving cryptocurrencies. 

According to him, some fraudsters use the social media platform to sponsor their fraudulent schemes and thus con victims.

No More Meta for Thais?

The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand has detected that scammers publish fake ads on popular social platforms, such as Meta, to deceive people into investing and later drain their funds. The lawmakers have also noticed that wrongdoers often use the image of well-known figures to display their schemes as more trustworthy.

As such, Chaiwut Thanakmanusorn – Minister of DES – stated that his team might submit a proposal to close the social media giant at the end of the month. Barring access to Meta could help the authorities investigate who stands behind the scams that lure people to distribute money in gold stocks, high-yield lending companies, foreign exchange trading, and cryptocurrencies. 

“DES is in the process of compiling evidence from offenders on the Facebook platform to send the court to close Facebook by the end of this month and ask the court to order the closure of the Facebook region within seven days by Facebook’s offense,” the politician stated.

Thanakmanusorn estimated that such schemes had affected over 200,000 individuals, siphoning almost $300,000 from them.

The Ministry has also sent a warning letter to Meta and other similar companies to block over 5,300 fraudulent ads and pages that could harm users.

How to Prevent Such Fraud?

The lawmakers gave locals valuable tips on detecting and avoiding online scams. They alerted that investment options offering high returns in a short period or featuring a celebrity’s face could be seen as a red flag. 

In addition, fraudsters often urge people to invest as quickly as possible, telling them they will otherwise miss an excellent opportunity to generate good returns.

“We would like to warn people not to be fooled by any solicitation of investment via social media and ask people to verify the facts from the cited agencies or related agencies before publishing and forwarding such information on various social media channels,” the Ministry concluded.