The world’s largest social media application by daily usage, Facebook, faces regulatory scrutiny in Thailand over crypto scam concerns. A publication issued by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES )in Thailand has urged Facebook to take proactive steps to stop fraudulent activities on the platform.
The August 21 report demonstrated that over 200,000 people from Southeastern Asia had been lured to susceptible investment on Facebook. The Thai market regulators observed that scammers had launched dubious schemes such as suspicious business opportunities and fake government agencies on Facebook to trick the public.
Thailand to Suspend Facebook
The regulators observed that fake Securities and Exchange Commission and trading sites had been the common avenue the scammers used to deceive Facebook users. Besides fake opportunities, the regulators lamented that most scam posts and ads captured images of celebs and public figures. From the fake post, the scammers deceived the Facebook users into earning 30% profits from investing in the scheme.
In a press conference, the minister of MDES, Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn, announced that Thailand authorities plan to take legal action against Facebook. The minister confirmed to have shared a letter to Facebook instructing the tech firm to address the matter.
Responding to the MDES request, the Facebook team stated that it could not track the scammers sharing fake promotions. The Facebook report obliged the Thai regulators to gather substantial evidence on scam advertisements before taking legal action.
The report illustrated that the regulators had obtained over 5300 advertisements linked to the incident. Afterward, the Thai regulatory agency will file charges against Facebook over crypto scams.
Meta Faces Regulatory Action
It is expected that before September, the Thai regulators will have presented the matter to the court. In the expected lawsuit, the MDES plans to request the court to suspend Facebook activities in Thailand within seven days.
In the final remarks, the MDES has requested the public to be hyper-vigilant when operating Facebook. The regulators warned the Thais to avoid clicking ads or posts promising high returns on investment to avoid losing their hard-earned money.
Additionally, the Thai regulators warned the public to avoid platforms that lack verifiable information. The MDES observed that the scammers leveraged their expertise to avoid the algorithm features on Facebook.
Reportedly the MDES regulatory action against Meta was not the first incident. In 2022 the financial regulators in Australia filed charges against Meta for supporting crypto scam advertisements. Before then, market regulators in California had accused Facebook of partnering with scammers to mislead users.
Besides, Facebook scammers have shifted to Whatsapp to deceive investors through phishing and fake alerts. A report from the UK revealed that the regulator plans to take potential action against unscrupulous players using Whatsapp to steal from public. The report demonstrated that the easy accessibility of Whatsapp and Facebook has encouraged scam activities.
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