People in younger age groups are now being fooled more often by scammers, with the number of victims aged 21–30 years last week exceeding those in the 31-40 group who were previously the most affected, the Anti-Cyber Scam Centre (ACSC) reported on Monday.
Scam victims filed 7,193 complaints in the week of March 22-28. Although this was 34 fewer than the previous week, their reported losses increased from 490 million baht the week before to 492 million baht.
The centre said these contradictory figures suggest that scammers may have shifted their focus to victims with high-value assets, or that they have become more effective in persuading victims to transfer larger sums of money.
Investment scams remained the most concerning category, accounting for 191 million baht in losses, or nearly 40% of the total damage during the week, according to the ACSC.
While shopping and service scams recorded the highest number of cases, impersonation scams showed a positive trend, declining by almost half compared with the previous week.
A notable change was that the 21-30 age group have become the most affected, replacing the 31-40 age group. Most victims were still female.
According to the centre, this trend may indicate scammers have adapted their tactics to suit the younger generation's lifestyle, as they tend to be more familiar with online transactions and digital activities.
During the same week, police caught 17 suspects in nine cases, seizing 1.9 million baht in cash, the ACSC said. They arrested 15 Thais, one Lao and one Malaysian.
