Innocent victims of the mule crackdown
As authorities enhance their campaign against scam bank accounts, law-abiding citizens get swept up as their funds are accidentally frozen, writes Somruedi Banchongduang
by Somruedi Banchongduang
September 22, 2025
In recent days, public complaints have surged over the suspension of money transfers and payments via digital platforms, largely linked to authorities' crackdown on mule accounts.
The inconvenience stems from a security upgrade by relevant agencies aimed at curbing financial fraud.
If your financial transaction is locked, you can verify your account and normally resume transactions within one day.
Transaction Lock
Under the amended Royal Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technology-related Crime, both government and private sector agencies are authorised to temporarily suspend suspicious financial transactions or permanently close mule accounts.
The level of law enforcement depends on the severity of the fraud, in line with the "five shades" of mule account classification: light brown, dark brown, light grey, dark grey, and the most severe level of black.
For most users affected by disruptions in online money transfers or QR code payments, the suspension applies only to specific transactions or amounts flagged as suspicious. Banks do not close the account.
In contrast, if an account is proven to be a mule account, it is permanently closed.
Such closures require police initiation under the Criminal Procedure Code and a court-issued freeze order.
Once the bank account is closed, all transactions, including withdrawals, transfers and debit card payments, are blocked.
Legitimate vs Mule Accounts
To protect legitimate customers while targeting scammers, agencies including the Bank of Thailand, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry, the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), the Thai Bankers' Association (TBA), and the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau established a joint "war room".
This unit investigates cases in detail to distinguish innocent victims from fraudulent actors.
As part of the mule account investigation process, banks and related agencies trace the flow of funds through suspicious accounts.
Since August, this examination expanded to include e-money and with the amendment, digital assets as well.
While these stricter measures may occasionally affect innocent account holders, authorities are working to carefully distinguish scammers from legitimate customers.
The goal is to ensure genuine users can continue conducting financial transactions with confidence.
"The upgraded measures may affect regular consumers," said Daranee Saeju, assistant governor for payment system policy and financial protection at the central bank.
"However, we aim to protect innocent account holders and support fraud victims as much as possible."
How to Unlock an Account
If your money transfer is temporarily suspended, you can request the block be lifted through your bank by following these steps:
1. Call the Anti-Online Scam Operation Center (AOC) hotline at 1441, and press 2.
2. Ask the AOC to lift the suspension. The centre has the authority to approve the release immediately.
3. A joint verification process will be conducted, including:
Reviewing transaction patterns
Checking if the account holder's name is linked to accounts frozen by Amlo or the police
4. If no irregularities are detected and the account is not linked to mule accounts or fraudulent transactions, the AOC can lift the suspension immediately, either within four hours or one day depending on the review cycle.
How Long to Unlock?
The authorities streamlined the operational process for unlocking suspended transfers to facilitate consumers following complaints.
Banks now suspend only the suspicious amount, rather than freezing the entire account. All banks follow the same standard, under which such amounts may be suspended for up to three days.
For blacklisted mule accounts, if the police issue an order, the suspension can be extended for an additional seven days, allowing a total of 10 days for the investigation.
If no irregularities are detected, the funds are returned once the review period concludes.
Under the latest rules, effective from Sept 14, most suspensions can be resolved much faster, within one day or even 3-4 hours, instead of the previous 3-7 days.
According to the AOC, on Sept 14 alone 5,274 calls were made to the hotline. Of these, 1,748 callers provided personal information for verification, 3,526 refused, and only 107 accounts were approved for unlocking.
Informing Users
Money transfers via digital banking are a primary target for mule account scammers.
This is why banks notify mobile banking users before locking any suspicious transaction.
However, the authorities emphasise that information sharing must be handled with proper safeguards or else scammers can adapt and exploit such details, said Supreecha Limpikanjanakowit, a representative of the TBA.
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