Crime gangs snare more than $88 billion in scams in Asia-Pacific, UN says

Scam gangs defrauded Asia-Pacific residents of at least $88 billion in 2025, a United Nations office said on Tuesday, with transnational crime groups rapidly evolving tactics to stay ahead of law enforcement.



Criminals in Southeast Asia, an epicentre for cyberfraud by mostly Chinese-origin syndicates, are outpacing crackdowns, diversifying revenue streams, exploiting corruption and harnessing artificial intelligence, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report.



The report estimated scam losses across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion for 2025, a figure larger than the GDP of several of the nations in the region.



Networks that once operated within specific territories or illicit trades are increasingly expanding across multiple illegal markets while using shared services, said Delphine Schantz, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.



Scam centres in Southeast Asia run illegal online schemes that defraud people worldwide, generating billions of dollars of annual revenue. Many facilities are staffed by trafficked foreign nationals, confined in oppressive environments.