Scam gangs defrauded Asia-Pacific residents of at least $88 billion in 2025, a United Nations office said on Tuesday, with transnational crime groups rapidly evolving tactics to stay ahead of law enforcement.
Transnational Crime Groups
Criminals in Southeast Asia, an epicentre for cyberfraud by mostly Chinese-origin syndicates, are outpacing crackdowns, diversifying revenue streams, exploiting corruption and harnessing artificial intelligence, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report.
The report estimated scam losses across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion for 2025, a figure larger than the GDP of several of the nations in the region.
Networks that once operated within specific territories or illicit trades are increasingly expanding across multiple illegal markets while using shared services, said Delphine Schantz, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Scam operators are increasingly seeking recruits from outside Asia as they expand into new markets, UNODC said. Recruitment advertisements linked to the industry’s communication channels have targeted people with German, Polish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Swedish, Norwegian and English language skills, it said.
Recent pressure from law enforcement in the region has displaced but not dismantled operations, UNODC said, with gangs relocating from countries like Myanmar and Laos to East Timor, Pacific Island states, and parts of Africa.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
