BANGKOK, Feb 16 (TNA) – Cyber police have apprehended another bank employee involved in the illicit sale of customer data.
The suspect, identified as Mr. Suwan, a 42-year-old employee of a private financial institution, was found to be secretly selling customer information from his own institution to interested parties, including credit agents, insurance agents, and members of call center gangs at incredibly low prices, as low as one baht per name.
Based on gathered evidence, a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of “obtaining personal data of others and disclosing it to others, causing damage.
A search of his home in Nonthaburi uncovered electronic devices, portable computers, and mobile phones containing customer data files.
Upon interrogation, he admitted to being the head of the credit department and confessed to collecting and selling customer data for nearly two years. He disclosed that the data was not sold all at once but rather in batches, ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 names per sale, each priced at just one baht per name. This lucrative venture had been earning him a substantial monthly income.
This operation followed investigations that previously resulted in the arrests of nine suspects, with two more currently under pursuit.
The Personal Data Protection Committee reported that from November 9, 2023, to February 8, 2024, their PDPC Eagle Eye Center had discovered over 5,869 instances of unnecessary or inadequately secured personal data disclosure on various government agency websites out of the more than 20,000 agencies examined. Approximately 90% of these were government agencies, which have been warned and corrected.
Regarding online sales of personal data, there have been several convictions in the past four months, mostly resulting in two-year imprisonment sentences. -819 (TNA)
