Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was not spared as she admitted that she was almost a victim of scam callers posing as another country’s leader using AI voice cloning.
Explaining the details, she received a call claiming to be a leader from another country informing her that her country has yet to make a donation. However, the link sent to make the said donation was for another country. “I want to warn people that I, myself, almost fell victim. This matter is important. The Digital Economy and Society ministry has already taken the case. We have to admit that scams and fraud are increasingly advanced and subtle.”
She continues that she again received a voice clip saying that that country’s leader wanted to work with her. After a while, she received a call at around 11pm on Tuesday but was not able to answer it as she was asleep.
On Wednesday morning, the PM sent a message apologising for missing the call and offered to make an appointment to discuss the matter. She again received another voice clip stating that Thailand was one ASEAN country which is yet to make the donation.
Raising suspicions, she now asked Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Economy Minister Praset Jantararuangthong to oversee the case.
Just a few days ago, Actor Wang Xing, or more famously known as Xingxing, was rescued in an online scam hub in Myawaddy, a neighboring city between Myanmar and Thailand.
Xingxing was kidnapped immediately after his arrival in Thailand last January 3 and was lured in with details of a fake casting gig.
The United Nations (UN) has named border towns in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar as regional hubs for telecom and online fraud, with nationalities within the region being trafficked to work in scam centers there.
Sources:
Bangkok Post – PM Paetongtarn targeted by imposter scammer
Bangkok Post – Hong Kong, Thai officials in talks to combat Southeast Asian scammers