A 12-point framework calls for governments, banks, technology platforms and telecoms firms to co-ordinate across borders as online scams grow more sophisticated.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group have unveiled the Bangkok Blueprint, a policy framework designed to help governments and financial firms confront cyber-enabled fraud in digital finance at a time when online scams are becoming more sophisticated and more damaging to confidence in digital payments. The framework was launched in Bangkok during the annual meetings of the two institutions, in coordination with the Bank of Thailand.
According to the IMF and World Bank, the blueprint sets out 12 key policy considerations aimed at helping authorities identify weak points, improve co-ordination and build more resilient systems. It is intended to support policymakers, regulators, banks and other industry participants in preventing, detecting and responding to fraud, while also encouraging global dialogue and future action on common standards.
Thai central bank governor Vitai Ratanakorn said the initiative draws on lessons from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and calls for a whole-of-ecosystem response with stronger cross-border co-operation. He said the framework was meant to help countries move beyond isolated measures and towards more co-ordinated action across financial services, social media, digital platforms, e-commerce and telecommunications networks.
The launch comes amid a wider regional and global surge in digital fraud. Reuters reported that Asia accounted for 67% of global fraud losses in 2024, underlining how heavily the region has been affected by scams linked to online finance. Vitai said Thailand’s own anti-fraud efforts have exposed increasingly advanced methods, with proceeds from cybercrime forming a significant part of broader illicit financial flows.
He added that losses from financial fraud in Thailand topped 43 billion baht in 2024 before falling to 32 billion baht in 2025, suggesting that tighter enforcement and better coordination can make a material difference. But the IMF said cyber incidents in the financial sector have increased tenfold over the past decade, while cyber-enabled fraud cases have roughly tripled, and it warned that the real scale of the problem is probably larger because so many cases go unreported.
Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF managing director, said during the launch that the blueprint had taken on greater urgency as artificial intelligence amplifies the scale and sophistication of digital scams. The blueprint stresses legal foundations, fraud prevention, enforcement, consumer protection and clear accountability, reflecting a broader effort to close gaps that allow fraudsters to move quickly across borders and exploit weaknesses in digital systems.
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