Three flood scams to watch for, and the 1441 hotline

A message pops up on your phone while the water is still outside your door. It says flood victims can now sign up for compensation: tap the link, enter your ID card number and bank account number, then transfer a small processing fee so the money arrives faster. Someone worn out from moving things away from the water and worried about paying for repairs may tap without stopping to think, and that is the moment the scammers are waiting for.

This is the scam that Thailand's Anti Online Scam Operation Centre, known as AOC 1441, under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, warned about on 4 November 2026, Bangkok Biz News and Siam Rath reported. With many areas still flooded and a new round of storms on the way, scammers are using text messages, fake pages and fake LINE accounts to go after three groups of people: those waiting for aid, those who want to donate, and those who just want to know when the water will reach their home. The centre's rule fits in one line: check before you click, and make sure before you transfer.

The first scam comes as flood aid, but asks you for money first

Scammers send text messages or set up Facebook pages and LINE accounts that use the names and logos of government agencies, such as the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, and invite people to sign up for compensation. What they want is your ID card number, your bank account number and your OTP, the one-time password your bank sends by text message. That code is the last key to your account, and whoever has it can make transactions as you. Some also ask for a registration or processing fee first, claiming it will speed up the payment.

The easiest sign is the money. Government aid has no fee, no processing charge and no registration charge, so treat anyone who asks you to pay first as a scammer. The real channels can be checked. The DDPM's latest round, opened on 2 October 2026 for homes flooded between 15 May and 30 September, takes claims through the Tang Rat app, or in person at a subdistrict office, a municipality or a Bangkok district office, Thai PBS reported. No step involves tapping a link from a stranger's message. If a new round opens for this month's floods, wait to hear about it through those same channels.

The second scam is a donation page that sends money to a mule account

When people see a child stuck on a roof or an elderly woman wading through waist-deep water, many want to help at once. Scammers know this, so they set up pages or accounts made to look like an agency, a foundation or a celebrity, with an account number or QR code that makes giving easy. The money goes to a mule account, a bank account opened in someone else's name and rented or sold to scammers to receive money. Once it lands, it is moved on until it is hard to trace. Some of the heart-rending pictures are old, from somewhere else, or images and clips made with AI to push people to transfer before they have time to doubt.

Before you donate, look at the name on the receiving account first. A real donation account should be in the name of an organisation or foundation, not a person. Then check the agency name, page name and account number against an official, verified website or page, such as the Thai Red Cross, the Office of the Prime Minister or a foundation you know. Do not transfer just because a picture or clip breaks your heart, and do not share a donation appeal you have not checked, because sharing it helps the scammers find their next victim.

The third scam hides in flood map links

When everyone wants to know when the water will reach their street or which roads are still open, links that claim to be live flood maps, detour routes or breaking news spread very fast. Some lead to fake websites that ask for personal details. Others invite you to install an app that, once installed and given the permissions it asks for, lets scammers control your phone from elsewhere, open your banking app and empty your account.

The safer path is not to tap links from text messages or from people you do not know at all. To follow the floods, open the official website, app or page of a government agency or a trusted news outlet yourself, by searching for its name rather than tapping from a message, and install apps only from the App Store or Google Play. If a message claims to come from an agency, call that agency's hotline first, such as the DDPM's 1784.

If you have already paid, call your bank first, then 1441

Money sent to a mule account is often moved on within hours, so time matters most. First, call the call centre of the bank you paid from and ask it to stop the transaction and freeze the receiving account. Second, call the AOC 1441 hotline, which is open 24 hours. The centre takes reports, gives advice and works to freeze mule accounts at once, so the money cannot be moved again.

Then keep all the evidence: the transfer slip, screenshots of the chat, the page name and the link you were sent. Then file a police report, either at a police station or online through 1441 or the thaipoliceonline.go.th website, but pick one channel only, because police have warned that reporting the same case through several channels causes confusion and delays.

The new round of storms starts today and runs until 9 November. While every household waits for flood news, there are two things you can do today. First, save 1441 and your bank's call centre number in your phone. Second, send these three rules to your parents or older relatives in the family LINE group: government aid never charges you first, donations must go to an account in an organisation's name, and links from strangers do not need to be tapped.

Sources

• Bangkok Biz News: แฉ 3 กลโกงมิจฉาชีพช่วงน้ำท่วม AOC ย้ำ 'เช็กก่อนโอน' เสี่ยงสูญเงิน
• Siam Rath: AOC 1441 เปิด 3 กลโกง มิจฉาชีพฉวยวิกฤตน้ำท่วม หลอกลงทะเบียนรับเงินเยียวยา เปิดรับบริจาคปลอม
• Thai PBS: เริ่ม 08.00 น. วันนี้ เปิดลงทะเบียน เยียวยาน้ำท่วม 2569 ผ่านแอปฯ "ทางรัฐ"
• Thai PBS: รู้ไว้! ขั้นตอนแจ้งความคดีออนไลน์ เมื่อเสียรู้ให้แก๊งคอลเซนเตอร์