Thai Cyber Police sent out a warning about a Chinese New Year-themed online scam after dozens of victims reported having their bank accounts hacked and drained.
Yesterday, Thailand’s Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) issued a warning via Facebook about a ‘Free Red Envelope’ scam.
During the upcoming Chinese New Year – or Lunar New Year – holidays, one popular tradition is for younger family members to receive red envelopes (called “Angpao” in Thai) containing money.
Scammers are getting into the festive mood and sending SMS text messages to random phone numbers telling them they have won a free Angpao.
The message tells the “winner” to click on a link to claim their monetary prize, which takes them to a website that asks for personal and financial information.
More than 20 victims reported falling victim to the Chinese New Year scam. The scammers hacked their bank accounts and transferred out everything they could.
Once the hackers hit the daily transfer limit, they waited until the next day and stole more money.
Most of the victims claim that they didn’t click a link or input their information.
Police investigated the Chinese New Year scam further and found over 100 victims, collectively scammed out of millions of baht.
In another scam, hackers pose as famous online shopping platforms and send SMS messages offering special discounts for customers if they click the link.
Upon clicking the link, the victims of the online shopping scam also…
