Thai Regulator Cracks Down On Deceptive Crypto Ads

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand wants to ensure that crypto investors are not lured into the ecosystem by misleading advertisements.

On April 29, the Thai SEC warned all operating crypto exchanges against glamorizing crypto investments and reminded them to adhere to prescribed advertising standards.

The warning comes from Deputy Secretary-General Anek Yooyuen, who said the commission was concerned about crypto exchanges offering special privileges to onboard users.

According to the Bangkok Post, crypto advertisements containing false, exaggerated, distorted, concealing or misleading information violate Thailand’s regulations.

Regulators from key crypto markets have also taken similar measures to minimize losses from crypto investments. For example, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued 450 alerts for illegal crypto ads in 2023 alone.

In addition, in November 2023, Spain’s principal securities market regulator, the National Stock Market Commission, called out fraudulent crypto assets promos on X and reiterated companies’ obligation to comply with local laws.

The SEC reminded crypto exchanges to include appropriate warnings about investment risks and to refrain from onboarding new users through special promotions.

According to Yooyuen, the SEC’s advertisement guidelines protect investors from unwarranted risks:

“When operators organize sales promotions by offering rewards to entice people to use the service, this could encourage the use of the service without considering the investment risks. This is especially the case for cryptocurrencies.”

He warned that violating the said guidelines will attract “punishment according to the law.”

The Thai advertising guidelines require businesses and advertisers to prove the “facts” stated in their marketing campaigns or risk violating the laws of the land.

Hackers recently took over the advertisements on Etherscan and began redirecting users to phishing sites designed to drain crypto wallets.

Blockchain investigating firm Scam Sniffer suspected the lack of oversight from advertisement aggregators as the root cause of the large-scale phishing campaign:

“Etherscan aggregates ads from platforms like Coinzilla and Persona, where insufficient filtering could lead to exposure to phishing attempts.”

The wallet drainer scam involves luring users to fake websites and prompting them to link their crypto wallets. Once linked, the scammer can withdraw funds into their personal wallet addresses without user authentication or permission.

Source: cointelegraph.com