Scammers seem to be thriving more than any other community worldwide. But in Thailand, they’ve met two admirable enemies, Gogolook Thailand, the provider of Whoscall application, and VML Thailand.
The partners have launched Scammer Pages, Thailand’s first data-visualised directory containing more than 1.5 million scam numbers in one volume in the well-known Yellow Pages telephone directory format. The new campaign intends to empower Thais to stay vigilant against online threats lurking in phone calls, digital channels and SMS messages. And it encourages a call-to-action, “If you can’t avoid them all, Download Whoscall,” for personal protection. This powerful representation serves as a reminder for people to pause, reflect, and take precautions against scams together with a call to action. If they cannot remember all the numbers, they can download Whoscall for immediate protection.
Online scams continue to be a national issue in Thailand, impacting both individuals and society at large. According to the latest statistics from the Royal Thai Police between March 2022 – July 2024, 612,603 online scam cases and resulted in accumulated financial loss worth more than 69.18 billion baht. The most common reported cases involve fake product selling, wire transfer scams in exchange for a job offering, loan scams, investment scams, and call center extortion. Women make up 64% of the victims, with those aged 30 – 44 accounting for 41.45%, followed by those aged 22 – 29 at 25.27%. Moreover, elderly groups with sizable retirement pensions and technology-savvy teenagers are also the primary target for scammers.
Monprapa Rattanakanokporn, country marketing lead of Gogolook (Thailand), the provider of the Whoscall application, stated, “At Gogolook, we recognise the rising dangers that online scams pose to Thai society. To safeguard users against evolving scam threats, we are committed
to continuously enhancing our Whoscall application by leveraging AI technology to develop new and innovative features. Failing to address these challenges, we will see not only an increase in numbers of victims and scam types but also significant financial and emotional harms that could ultimately impact the country’s economic situation at large.”
Park Wannasiri, chief creative officer at VML Thailand, said “Working with Whoscall on this campaign allows us to bring attention to the serious threats phone scams that many Thais still underestimate. Based on the key statistics by Whoscall that ‘Thai people have been scammed more than 19 million times over the phone’, we translated this key information into a creative idea that easily grasps public attention. Our insights further revealed that while many Thais believe they can handle scammers by learning from prevention tips shared widely on social media platforms, there is no available visualization to address the seriousness of the issue.
Therefore, we suggested visualising the numbers to give people the reason why they should install the Whoscall application on their phones. The challenge was to present data clearly which led to the idea of the iconic Yellow Pages directory. As a result, we used data visualisation techniques
for the first time to compile over 1.5 million scam numbers into Thailand’s first Scammer Pages book by Whoscall to ignite national awareness on the country’s scams situation.”
Thais can download the Whoscall app for free on both iOS and Android platforms here.
