East, SE Asian Scam Operations Going Global: UN Report

Transnational scam operations originating in East and Southeast Asia are rapidly spreading in South Asia and the rest of the world, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned in its new report issued on Monday.

According to the report titled “Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centers, Underground Banking, and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia”, organized crime groups have expanded their networks beyond Asia, adapting to increased crackdowns by shifting operations to regions with weaker law enforcement.

“This reflects both a natural expansion as the industry grows and seeks new ways and places to do business, but also a hedging against future risks should disruption continue and intensify in Southeast Asia,” Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.

UNODC estimates that hundreds of industrial-scale scam centers generate just under $40 billion in annual profits.

These criminal groups, per the report, are to blame for billions of dollars in losses due to romance scams, fraudulent investment schemes and illegal online gambling.

While scam compounds have long operated in border areas of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines, constantly relocating to evade authorities, the new report warned that fraudulent activities can now be seen in South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and some Pacific islands, as well as related money laundering, trafficking in persons and recruitment services as far as Europe, North America and South America.

Alarmingly, even as Asian-led groups have been expanding the geographical scope of their operations, the involvement of criminal groups from other parts of the world is also growing, the report says.

Without prompt international cooperation, the rapid global growth of these criminal enterprises could escalate beyond control, the UNODC warns.