UN Says Southeast Asia Scam Losses Hit Up to $114.1B in 2025
UNODC said the scam economy is expanding across multiple crimes and now relies on AI, laundering networks and trafficked workers.
- A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report released Tuesday revealed Southeast Asia-based criminal groups built a massive illicit economy, with scams causing combined losses of $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in 2025.
- As authorities in Thailand, China, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia conduct crackdowns on industrial-sized scam centers, criminal networks have responded by shifting operations offshore or operating on smaller, decentralized scales.
- Using AI-powered translations, crime syndicates target victims worldwide with deepfakes and phishing content, the report said. Criminals also utilize a "criminal service infrastructure" involving cryptocurrency and encrypted communications.
- The report identifies the Sulu-Celebes maritime "triangle" between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines as a major smuggling corridor for cocaine and wildlife. East Asian crime syndicates also use AI to facilitate child sexual abuse and trafficking.
- To combat this evolving criminal ecosystem, the UNODC said authorities need a coordinated, cross-border strategy integrating enforcement across financial, communications, and online service systems.
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51 Articles
Scam centers in Southeast Asia are collecting billions of dollars using hundreds of thousands of forced laborers. According to the United Nations, the backmen are now recruiting more people from Germany.
Scam losses in Asian regions up to $114 bn in 2025: UN
Victims of transnational online scams in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand lost up to $114.1 billion last year, a UN report said Tuesday, with estimated losses at least tripling from 2023.Southeast Asia, especially Cambodia and Myanmar, has emerged as a regional hub for crime synd
International criminal groups are increasingly using artificial intelligence, cryptification and modern digital technologies for fraud, money-laundering and human trafficking.
Technology helps international criminal groups strengthen their position - UN reportA UN report shows that transnational crime in Asia uses AI and new technologies to commit fraud. Children are exposed to risks through online games and AI-generated sexual images.
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