Generative AI fuels 112% surge in Thailand scam calls and SMS in 2024
Thailand recorded 168 million scam calls and SMS messages in 2024, a 112% increase from the previous year, reportedly fueled by fraudsters' use of generative AI technology to conduct impersonation, phishing, and financial fraud schemes. Whoscall, a mobile security company, detected the surge and reported that advanced AI technology has made fraudulent schemes increasingly complex.
What happened
Whoscall detected 168 million scam calls and SMS messages in Thailand in 2024, a 112% increase from 79.2 million in 2023. Scam calls rose to 38 million from 20.8 million, while fraudulent SMS messages surged to nearly 130 million from 58.3 million.
Fraudsters are using generative AI technology to conduct increasingly complex scams, including impersonating government and private sector entities, financial fraud, phishing links, and illegal online gambling schemes. Scammers have shifted to impersonating delivery services, utility providers, and mimicking government policies such as electricity bill reductions and digital wallet initiatives.
Reported impact
The surge represents the highest scam volume recorded in five years, with SMS remaining the primary channel for scam distribution. Whoscall's Web Checker identified 40% of harmful links as phishing designed to steal money or personal information, 30% linked to illegal online gambling, and the remainder designed to trick users into downloading malware-laden apps.
Index analysis
The intricate scam ecosystem is attributed to advances in generative AI technology and phone-based systems for carrying out diverse financial scams and personal data leaks. Whoscall's Smart SMS Assistant detected that phishing links and fraudulent loan offers are the most common scam messages.
Governance controls
Whoscall developed Web Checker and Smart SMS Assistant features to help protect users from malicious links and scam SMS. Whoscall accelerated development of AI-based number screening to keep pace with online fraudsters.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.