BOT Unveils Bangkok Blueprint Model to Combat Scammers, Leveraging Thai Practices for Global Application

Online scams are a pervasive issue, causing tens of billions in losses worldwide. Therefore, the Bank of Thailand (BOT), World Bank, and IMF have collaborated to develop the Bangkok Blueprint, a set of case studies and frameworks that countries can adapt to address frauds adversely affecting their populations.

How severely do scammers impact the world and Thailand?

To begin with, Dr. Akniti Nitithanprapas, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, portrayed the current landscape of online scams as a transnational system, where perpetrators located in one country deceive victims in another. This underscores that tackling fraud cannot be done by one country alone but requires elevating cooperation to an international level by "Connecting the Dots" to link data points domestically and abroad.

Meanwhile, Vithai Ratanakorn, Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT), stated that in 2025, the global estimated financial loss from fraud is $442 billion. For Thailand, losses from fraud were 43 billion baht in 2024 but decreased to 32 billion baht in 2025. This reflects effective measures in combating scammers.

Bangkok Blueprint: A Model to Combat Scammers

In a rapidly changing world with advancing technology, building trust and systemic resilience to reduce fraud requires a holistic ecosystem approach rather than isolated efforts. The collaboration among BOT, World Bank, and IMF produced the Bangkok Blueprint, a strategic framework enabling countries to design infrastructure, fraud detection systems, and safer financial environments.

Initially, it comprises five key pillars (12 Key Considerations - KC):

• Developing strategies, laws, and supervisory mechanisms that clearly define roles and responsibilities. This includes both
  (KC1) Establishing a national strategy to create a clear network for managing financial fraud and
  (KC2) Implementing legal frameworks, regulations, and governance to address fraud issues.
• Comprehensive fraud management covering prevention, detection, response, and victim remediation. Through
  (KC3) Designing secure services with flexible fraud risk management.
  (KC4) Building collaboration and proactive prevention.
  (KC5) Creating a unified fraud detection system to enable the earliest possible interception.
  (KC6) Establishing response mechanisms ready to recover damages incurred.
• Leveraging existing risk management and law enforcement frameworks such as AML/CFT and cybersecurity. Including
  (KC7) Enhancing cybersecurity resilience to combat fraud.
  (KC8) Expanding anti-money laundering measures.
  (KC9) Enforcing laws and penalties.
• Strengthening cooperation domestically and internationally.
  (KC10) Coordinating between public and private sectors.
  (KC11) Facilitating cross-border data sharing and operations.
• Protecting consumers, raising awareness, and improving digital resilience.  
  (KC12) Enhancing care and protection for fraud victims through education, remediation, and compensation.

How will the world implement the Bangkok Blueprint?

At the panel discussion "The Bangkok Blueprint for Fraud-Resilient Financial Services" held on 14 Oct 2026, perspectives from the IMF and central bank governors were shared.

From Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who noted that online fraud undermines confidence and threatens macroeconomic stability. If people lose trust, they may avoid digital channels despite their role in improving financial access.

She emphasized that reducing fraud requires three main elements:
1. Communicating a national strategy that engages agencies and individuals at all levels.
2. Preventing losses through joint efforts to raise awareness of fraud threats.
3. Minimizing fraud damages by building an ecosystem involving all sectors.
The Bangkok Blueprint serves as essential knowledge helping countries develop systems and adapt frameworks to effectively and timely address rising cyber and financial crimes.

Meanwhile, Anshula Kant, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the World Bank Group, explained that losses from scammers impact families and economies. Prevention must start from day one with internal banking system vulnerability assessments, such as strict customer identity verification and monitoring suspicious transactions. Coordination and real-time reporting are crucial to intercept illicit financial flows.

She highlighted Thailand’s model using hotline 1441, which links and coordinates police, banks, and related agencies, as genuinely effective in reducing damages. The Bangkok Blueprint provides a framework supporting collaboration among regulators, banks, and government to mitigate risks at the source concretely.

On the other hand, Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, observed that advancing technology and AI also enhance criminals’ deception methods. Thus, solving this issue requires cooperation among government, finance, technology companies, social media platforms, and more. He views the Bangkok Blueprint as a key to designing systems that counter online fraud through safer financial infrastructures.

Finally, Soraya Munyana Hakuziyaremye, Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, shared Rwanda’s case where 92% of the population has access to digital financial services but only 30% have financial literacy, making them vulnerable. Rwanda has focused on building infrastructure consolidating data on a single platform, employing AI to detect abnormal transactions connected to an operations center for real-time response.

She noted that major obstacles in fighting fraud include differing national laws and fragmented data storage systems. Hence, building public-private partnerships and leveraging the Bangkok Blueprint will help overcome these barriers while enhancing public financial trust.

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