Bangkok Post – Police station supports latest AIS service

Advanced Info Service (AIS) has partnered with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CIB) to help customers handle calls from scammers and call center gangs through its free new suspicious phone number reporting service.

The service, based on an intelligent network system, allows AIS customers to report the last number from which they received a suspicious call by dialing *1185# within five minutes of ending the call.

After the service number is called, the AIS intelligent system retrieves the suspicious number to investigate. If the AIS system detects within a 48-hour period that the suspicious number’s calling pattern indicates suspicious activity, AIS will forward the relevant information to the CIB.

The service is free 24/7 and the telephone user can report a suspicious call via a variety of communication networks, including a landline, a mobile telephone network, a foreign calling network or a Voice over Internet Protocol network. There is no limit to the number of times a customer can report a suspicious number.

The CIB expects the number of complaints related to call center gangs to decline by 30% within the next two months, said Lt. Gen. Jirabhop Bhuridej, commissioner of the CIB.

According to CIB statistics, there were 20,370 complaint cases between October 2023 and September 30, 2024, resulting in damages totaling 3.5 billion baht.

Prathana Leelapanang, Chief Consumer Business Officer at AIS, said the service allows AIS customers to immediately report and block scam phone numbers from all types of networks.

He added that AIS has been working closely with the CIB to investigate and block such numbers to prevent further damage and take decisive legal action against the scammers.

“We are working closely with network service providers, especially AIS, to detect scammers through a tracking and monitoring system,” said Lt. Gen. Jirabhop.

AIS has already established a channel for customers to report suspicious phone numbers in the form of the AIS Spam Report Center, which in many cases has led to arrests and legal action against the offenders.

AIS users have filed 2.2 million complaints through the AIS Spam Report Center since April 2022, of which 1.7 million cases were from suspicious phone numbers, 42% of which came from other AIS numbers, while the rest came from numbers from other operators. AIS users filed 500,000 complaints regarding text messages.

AIS has forwarded 1.06 million of these cases for investigation by the police and other relevant parties.

Mr Prathana said AIS’s first priority is to ensure that AIS customers can confidently use the services on the secure network.

The company supports and collaborates with police and government agencies to detect, monitor and stop suspicious activities through the transparent registration measures used in the issuance of telephone numbers, he added.

AIS has developed technology tools to enable customers and the public to protect their mobile phone use and enable them to report suspicious activity, he said.

AIS has also been building Thai people’s digital usage skills through the Aunjai Cyber ​​Project to raise awareness about cyber threats and scams, Mr Prathana said.