SE Asia-Based Scam Groups Raked in $37 Billion in 2023

Scammers based in Southeast Asia took in up to $37 billion in 2023.

These groups are still ramping up their efforts in spite of increased law enforcement activity, Bloomberg News reported Monday (Oct. 7), citing a new United Nations (UN) report.

“The transnational organized crime threat landscape in Southeast Asia is evolving faster than in any previous point in history,” reads the report, compiled by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

That evolution has led to a rise in cybercrimes such as crypto fraud, romance scams and money laundering in the Mekong region, countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The report says the success of these activities has led criminal groups to employ “service-based” business models and technologies such as malware and generative AI.

“The sheer scale of proceeds being generated within the region’s booming illicit economy has required the professionalization and innovation of money laundering activities, and transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia have emerged as global market leaders,” the report says.

The report adds that the victims of the groups go beyond just those being scammed, with thousands of people being trafficked to work in “scam centers” as casinos, hotels and special economic zones among the property developments “become hubs for the booming illicit economy, adding to existing governance challenges in many of the region’s border areas.”

And so, online fraud has only increased, with losses of between $18 billion and $37 billion for victims in eastern and Southeast Asia last year, the report said.

PYMNTS examined the rise of organized scam operations earlier this year in an interview with Featurespace Chief Operating Officer Tim Vanderham.

Speaking with PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, he noted that “when you think about the billions and billions of dollars that come from scams globally,” the money made from ill-gotten gains surpasses the revenues of some of the largest businesses around the world.

In just the U.S., Vanderham said, the $2.7 billion in fraud reported just a few years ago represents just a small fraction of the true total — primarily because people are embarrassed to report that they’ve fallen victim to unscrupulous scams.

“In the meantime, the crime syndicates are using the stolen funds to bankroll other crimes such as human trafficking and the drug trade,” PYMNTS wrote.