Highlights of LINE's Collaboration with 3 Experts for Senior Workshops: Tips to Combat Investment Scams

This is a summary of the key points from the event “LINE CONNECT DAY: Smart Senior 2025,” a skill enhancement workshop for seniors organized by LINE Thailand for the second time. This time, they collaborated with three national experts, including the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), and Young Happy, to share easy-to-understand tips on how to deal with online scams under the theme “Smart Investment for Seniors in the Digital Age.” Over 60 seniors from across the country participated in the event.

Essential Tips for Safe LINE Usage: Say Goodbye to Scammers

LINE Thailand shared techniques for using LINE safely, including: reporting issues when encountering inappropriate behavior in chat rooms or LINE Official Accounts using the report feature; observing official account badges where official LINE accounts have blue or green shield symbols, while general accounts have gray shields; setting privacy by blocking chats from strangers to prevent unsolicited messages; not disclosing sensitive information such as authentication codes, account details, emails, or passwords to others; and setting a secure password that combines uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters, changing it every three months to reduce the risk of falling victim to scammers.

Awakening Awareness: Recognizing Investment Scams in the Digital Age by the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

A representative from the SEC highlighted the dangers of investment scams, which can cause significant financial losses. Most victims exhibit 6 common behaviors: being gullible, fearful, overconfident, unaware of current events, lacking knowledge, and greedy. Common scam tactics include Ponzi schemes, romance scams that exploit trust, misleading advertisements on fake websites, and impersonating reputable individuals or organizations.

To protect themselves from scammers, everyone should have an “Awareness Button” to remind themselves. The SEC summarized simple warning signs known as “5 Red Flags”: 1. Unrealistically high returns, 2. Quick payouts that seem too good to be true, 3. Guaranteed returns, 4. Pressure tactics to make quick decisions, and 5. Impersonation of trustworthy individuals or organizations. If suspicious events occur, initial checks can be made on the SEC website or the SEC Check First app, or by contacting the hotline 1207, press 22.

Pol. Col. Nethi Wongkulab, Deputy Commander of the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) 

Understanding 3 Essential Rules... Protecting Yourself from Call Center Scams by the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB)

During the event, interesting statistics were revealed showing that last year, many Thais fell victim to call center scams, losing substantial amounts of money. To protect themselves from scammers, individuals should adhere to 3 important rules: 1. Don’t trust anyone easily online, especially those you’ve never met in person, as online information can be fabricated in an instant; 2. Verify before believing, as the online world is filled with more fake news than real news. Always check the source of information and seek reliable sources. The more you verify, the safer you are from scammers; 3. Don’t be misled by information that call center scammers provide. Everyone's personal information can fall into the hands of scammers, so if someone calls and can accurately provide your personal information, don’t trust them immediately. Always verify further.