Cyberscam factories are mushrooming worldwide

The Standard

21-04-2025

Asian crime syndicates behind the multibillion-dollar cyberscam industry are expanding globally including to South America and Africa, as raids in Southeast Asia fail to contain their activities, the United Nations reported yesterday.
Criminal networks that emerged in Southeast Asia in recent years, opening sprawling compounds housing tens of thousands of workers, many trafficked and forced to scam victims around the world, have evolved into a sophisticated global industry, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said.
Even as Southeast Asian governments have intensified a crackdown, syndicates have moved within and beyond the region, the agency said, adding that a "potentially irreversible spillover has taken place leaving criminal groups free to pick, choose, and move as needed."
"It spreads like a cancer," said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. "Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear; they simply migrate."
Conservative estimates indicate that hundreds of large-scale scam farms around the world are generating tens of billions of dollars in annual profits, the UNODC said.
"The regional cyberfraud industry has outpaced other transnational crimes, given that it is easily scalable and able to reach millions of potential victims online, with no need to move or traffic illicit goods across borders," said John Wojcik, a regional analyst with UNODC.
The agency said syndicates have expanded into South America while increasingly establishing operations in Africa and Eastern Europe.
Gangs have also rapidly diversified their workforce. During recent crackdowns on the Thai-Myanmar border, citizens of more than 50 countries had been rescued.
REUTERS