Asian frauds worth 35 billion euros - UN warns: They are spreading all over the world!
Transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their lucrative fraud operations across the globe in response to increasing crackdowns by authorities, according to a UN report released on Monday.
For several years, various types of cyber and other scams have been prevalent in Southeast Asia, especially in the border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as the Philippines, with fraudsters moving operations from one country to another to stay one step ahead of the police.
Recently, scam centers that have defrauded victims of billions of dollars through fake romances, bogus investment pitches, and illegal gambling schemes are now being reported to operate as far away as Africa and Latin America.
Asian crime syndicates have expanded operations deeper into remote areas with weak law enforcement that are vulnerable to the influx, according to a report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).
"This reflects a natural expansion as the industry grows and seeks new ways and places to do business, but also a hedge against future risks if the disruption continues and intensifies in Southeast Asia, " Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC's regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.
UNODC estimates that hundreds of industrial-scale fraud centers generate just under $40 billion (35 billion euros) in annual profits.
The trend to protect beyond the region has been consistent with ongoing reports of strikes targeting Asian-led fraud hubs found operating in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and select Pacific islands, as well as money laundering, human trafficking and recruitment services uncovered in Europe, North America and South America.
In Africa, Nigeria has become a hot spot, with police raids in late 2024 and early 2025 leading to numerous arrests, including people from East and Southeast Asia suspected of cryptocurrency and romance scams. Zambia and Angola have also dismantled cyber fraud operations linked to Asia.
In Latin America, the report says that " it is notable that Brazil has emerged as a country that has faced a growing set of challenges related to cyber-enabled fraud, online gambling and related money laundering, with some links to criminal groups operating in Southeast Asia."
He also notes that in late 2023 in Peru, more than 40 Malaysians were rescued after being trafficked by a Taiwan-based gang known as the Red Dragon syndicate that forced them to commit cyber-enabled fraud.
The report also points to crackdowns on Asian-led fraud hubs in the Middle East and several Pacific islands. Alarmingly, while Asian-led groups have expanded the geographic reach of their operations, the involvement of criminal groups from other parts of the world is also growing, the report says.
New online marketplaces, money laundering networks, stolen data products, malware, artificial intelligence and counterfeit technologies are paving the way for the rise of crime as a service, the report says.
These technological innovations make it easier to conduct their businesses online and adapt to shocks. " The convergence between the acceleration and professionalization of these operations on the one hand and their geographical expansion into new parts of the region and beyond on the other translates into a new intensity in the industry, to which governments must be prepared to respond," says Hofmann.
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