United Nations Report Warns of Growing Global Threat from Cyber Scams
Written by Finbarr Toesland Thu 24 Apr 2025
The Asian cyber scam industry is expanding out of the region and targeting people in Europe, Africa and South America, according to a new report published by the United Nations.
These criminal networks are using cryptocurrency, romance and investment scams to extract money from victims.
“It spreads like a cancer. Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear; they simply migrate,” said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC Acting Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “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.”
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report called Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia, many of the people who conduct these cyber scams are trafficked workers who are forced to carry out these scams. After a serious crackdown on cyber criminals in Myanmar, close to 7,000 workers from more than 50 countries were freed from crime syndicates that had forced these people to scam others.
By focusing on areas where governance is weak, such as parts of Myanmar, these massive cybercriminal networks are believed to be profiting by around £30 billion ($40 billion) a year. So-called crime-as-a-service options have helped these criminal operations expand and use advanced malware, deepfake and AI technologies to make their work easier than ever.
“The convergence between the acceleration and professionalisation 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 — one that governments need to be prepared to respond to,” Hofmann said.
Written by Finbarr Toesland Thu 24 Apr 2025