UN says Southeast Asia scam networks caused up to $114.1 billion in 2025 losses

Southeast Asia’s scam industry has consolidated into a single transnational criminal economy, with losses across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand reaching an estimated $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in 2025, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report published Tuesday. The agency said syndicates that were once rooted in specific territories and specialties now operate through a shared, service-based network covering money laundering, fraud, human trafficking, and data harvesting. Much of the revenue comes from crypto investment fraud and romance scams, often called pig butchering, run from industrial-scale compounds and laundered on-chain. UNODC warned that disruption-focused enforcement is failing and said police need specialized crypto training to trace and seize proceeds. The report also highlighted forced labor inside scam compounds involving people from at least 80 countries, rising use of generative AI, deepfakes and malvertising (malicious online ads), and satellite internet such as Elon Musk’s Starlink that helps operations function in remote areas. It also identified the Sulu and Celebes Seas as a growing smuggling corridor and said online gambling is being gamified to attract younger users.