Latest news with #JorijAbraham
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
The Global Anti-Scam Summit (GASS) Asia 2025 returns to Singapore with a strong regional coalition against scams
SINGAPORE - Media OutReach Newswire - 12 August 2025 - As scam networks across Southeast Asia grow more coordinated and transnational, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) is responding with counterforce and progress. This year's Global Anti-Scam Summit (GASS) Asia 2025 will be held on 2-3 September in Singapore and will convene over 1,200 industry leaders, policymakers, and enforcement agencies from over 60 countries (physical and online) to address the real-world strategies for preventing and disrupting online scams at scale. 'Scams are no longer isolated incidents, they are a systemic, cross-border threat. GASA's role is to connect the dots, not just across sectors, but across borders, creating the shared infrastructure needed to act faster and smarter,' said Jorij Abraham, Managing Director, GASA. 'Over the past year, we've scaled our membership, launched new national chapters in high-priority markets, and strengthened data-sharing through the Global Signal Exchange. The summit is where these efforts come together into concrete action.' Exponential growth in partnerships GASA's membership has doubled globally, with the Singapore Chapter now exceeding 100 members, including major organisations such as Amazon, Google, MasterCard, Meta and Microsoft, alongside government, enforcement, and civil society stakeholders. Singapore's role as a strategic testbed for anti-scam policy frameworks, technology pilots, and cross-sector coordination has made it a hub for regional collaboration. In the past year, GASA has deepened its presence across the Southeast Asia region, having established chapters in two of the region's important markets: the Philippines and Indonesia. These economies are heavily mobile-first, with widespread use of digital finance tools, making scams a significant consumer and economic threat. . In Indonesia, the chapter is chaired by Reski Damayanti, Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, at Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, one of the country's leading telecom providers. According to GASA's 2024 Asia Scam Report, 65% of Indonesians experience scam attempts every week, from phishing texts and fake job offers to investment fraud. With telcos increasingly targeted through phishing, SMS spoofing, and fake service alerts, the chapter will focus on industry-wide intelligence sharing, public awareness campaigns, and closer alignment with national authorities. In the Philippines, the chapter is co-chaired by Irish Salandanan-Almeida, Chief Privacy Officer and Vice-President for Governance, Risk, and Compliance and Derick Ohmar Adil, Head, AI and Privacy Governance, at Globe Telecom. As one of the nation's largest digital service providers, Globe has been at the forefront of consumer protection initiatives, from blocking malicious SMS at scale to launching awareness campaigns. 'These chapters are more than local extensions. They are strategic footholds in markets where digitalisation is instrumental in raising standards of living, yet scams threaten to undermine this. By bringing in national champions like Indosat and Globe, we're embedding GASA's model into the heart of each market's digital ecosystem. It is heartening to see this community of scam fighters assembling a short 2 years after we led the establishment of GASA in this region.' said Rajat Maheshwari, Chair, GASA Singapore Chapter. A stronger data backbone: Global Signal Exchange (GSE) More than 35 organisations are now contributing scam signals to the Global Signal Exchange (GSE), supported among others by GASA, Google, GSMA, Meta, Microsoft and other key players. The GSE is a global clearinghouse for the real-time sharing of scam and fraud threat signals – URLs, domains, IP addresses, emails and more. Since its launch in January 2025, GSE has grown from 40 million to 370 million signals. More than 230 organisations are now onboarded or in the pipeline to join. During the summit, GSE will also announce an important milestone and honoured addition to its program. Other key highlights at the summit include: Fireside chat featuring Mr. Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development, Ministry of Health, and Patron of the GASA Singapore Chapter Launch of the Southeast Asia Scam Report, presented by Rajat Maheshwari, Chair of the GASA Singapore Chapter Panel deep dives on regional scam typologies, enforcement strategies, and cross-border disruption tactics INTERPOL session on cybercrime operations and challenges in Asia United Nations (UN) on trafficking networks linked to scam centres in Asia Researcher and investigator Paul Raffile, on cyber extortion, impersonation scams, and blind spots in digital victim protection The Anti-scam pitch room, showcasing real-world tools and early-stage innovation in scam prevention and detection Launch of Anti-Scam resources by various GASA Members (e.g. Tech for Good Institute)
Arabian Post
5 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Post
The Global Anti-Scam Summit (GASS) Asia 2025 returns to Singapore with a strong regional coalition against scams
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 August 2025 – As scam networks across Southeast Asia grow more coordinated and transnational, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) is responding with counterforce and progress. This year's Global Anti-Scam Summit (GASS) Asia 2025 will be held on 2-3 September in Singapore and will convene over 1,200 industry leaders, policymakers, and enforcement agencies from over 60 countries (physical and online) to address the real-world strategies for preventing and disrupting online scams at scale. 'Scams are no longer isolated incidents, they are a systemic, cross-border threat. GASA's role is to connect the dots, not just across sectors, but across borders, creating the shared infrastructure needed to act faster and smarter,' said Jorij Abraham, Managing Director, GASA. 'Over the past year, we've scaled our membership, launched new national chapters in high-priority markets, and strengthened data-sharing through the Global Signal Exchange. The summit is where these efforts come together into concrete action.' Exponential growth in partnerships ADVERTISEMENT GASA's membership has doubled globally, with the Singapore Chapter now exceeding 100 members, including major organisations such as Amazon, Google, MasterCard, Meta and Microsoft, alongside government, enforcement, and civil society stakeholders. Singapore's role as a strategic testbed for anti-scam policy frameworks, technology pilots, and cross-sector coordination has made it a hub for regional collaboration. In the past year, GASA has deepened its presence across the Southeast Asia region, having established chapters in two of the region's important markets: the Philippines and Indonesia. These economies are heavily mobile-first, with widespread use of digital finance tools, making scams a significant consumer and economic threat. . In Indonesia, the chapter is chaired by Reski Damayanti, Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, at Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, one of the country's leading telecom providers. According to GASA's 2024 Asia Scam Report, 65% of Indonesians experience scam attempts every week, from phishing texts and fake job offers to investment fraud. With telcos increasingly targeted through phishing, SMS spoofing, and fake service alerts, the chapter will focus on industry-wide intelligence sharing, public awareness campaigns, and closer alignment with national authorities. In the Philippines, the chapter is co-chaired by Irish Salandanan-Almeida, Chief Privacy Officer and Vice-President for Governance, Risk, and Compliance and Derick Ohmar Adil, Head, AI and Privacy Governance, at Globe Telecom. As one of the nation's largest digital service providers, Globe has been at the forefront of consumer protection initiatives, from blocking malicious SMS at scale to launching awareness campaigns. 'These chapters are more than local extensions. They are strategic footholds in markets where digitalisation is instrumental in raising standards of living, yet scams threaten to undermine this. By bringing in national champions like Indosat and Globe, we're embedding GASA's model into the heart of each market's digital ecosystem. It is heartening to see this community of scam fighters assembling a short 2 years after we led the establishment of GASA in this region.' said Rajat Maheshwari, Chair, GASA Singapore Chapter. ADVERTISEMENT A stronger data backbone: Global Signal Exchange (GSE) More than 35 organisations are now contributing scam signals to the Global Signal Exchange (GSE), supported among others by GASA, Google, GSMA, Meta, Microsoft and other key players. The GSE is a global clearinghouse for the real-time sharing of scam and fraud threat signals – URLs, domains, IP addresses, emails and more. Since its launch in January 2025, GSE has grown from 40 million to 370 million signals. More than 230 organisations are now onboarded or in the pipeline to join. During the summit, GSE will also announce an important milestone and honoured addition to its program. Other key highlights at the summit include: Fireside chat featuring Mr. Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development, Ministry of Health, and Patron of the GASA Singapore Chapter Launch of the Southeast Asia Scam Report, presented by Rajat Maheshwari, Chair of the GASA Singapore Chapter Panel deep dives on regional scam typologies, enforcement strategies, and cross-border disruption tactics INTERPOL session on cybercrime operations and challenges in Asia United Nations (UN) on trafficking networks linked to scam centres in Asia Researcher and investigator Paul Raffile, on cyber extortion, impersonation scams, and blind spots in digital victim protection The Anti-scam pitch room, showcasing real-world tools and early-stage innovation in scam prevention and detection Launch of Anti-Scam resources by various GASA Members (e.g. Tech for Good Institute) To register for GASS Asia 2025, please visit For media registration, interview opportunities, or to attend the media lunch briefing on 2nd September, please contact [email protected]. Hashtag: #GASS #GASA The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. About GASA The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting consumers worldwide from scams and online fraud. Working across the globe, GASA brings together governments, law enforcement agencies, consumer protection bodies, financial institutions, technology companies, academia, and civil society to share intelligence, coordinate responses, and develop joint strategies. Through initiatives such as the Global Signal Exchange, a secure platform for real-time scam data sharing, and the Global Anti-Scam Summit series, GASA drives collaboration that enables faster detection, disruption and prevention of scams. Its work is guided by a mission to reduce the financial and emotional harm caused by scams, and to create a safer digital environment for all. For more information, visit
The Guardian
30-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Anti-scam campaign groups urge UK police forces to get tougher on fraudsters
Anti-scam campaign groups are calling for police forces to be much tougher on fraudsters, who they claim are scamming millions from victims in 'a penalty-free crime'. The pleas are being made just days after the UK government announced it is working on an 'expanded' fraud strategy as part of a 'robust response' to surging reported fraud rates, which rose by 19% last year according to the Office for National Statistics. The new initiative follows a huge data leak exposing a $35m (£27m) scam call centre operation earlier this month, when the Swedish public broadcaster SVT shared files including more than 1m scam telephone calls with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Guardian and other international reporting partners. Jorij Abraham, the managing director of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), said: 'You can scam and go free. There is hardly any risk. It is easy, low cost and quite rewarding. We are calling on politicians around the globe to give law enforcement more charter – more resources.' He had earlier told GASA's London conference on Wednesday that scams are a 'penalty-free crime'. Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at the consumer protection campaigner Which?, added: 'Law enforcement has a crucial role to play in stopping the UK's fraud epidemic and deterring scammers. Police, the government and businesses – such as telecoms firms, banks and online platforms – need to work together to share information about criminals and stop scams appearing in the first place. 'However, we also need to be realistic about what UK law enforcement agencies can do to tackle organised criminal gangs who are often operating complex online scam operations outside the UK. An effective enforcement action by regulators is also needed to hit businesses with financial penalties when they fail to put the right systems in place to prevent scams.' Launching the government's new initiative last week, UK fraud minister Lord Hanson told the GASA conference: 'We need to hold criminals to account for actions, pursue them relentlessly and make sure we get outcomes … for victims.' He added that money lost to fraud is 'going into other crime enterprises'. The $35m Georgian scam operation targeted people living in the UK more than any other country, with British residents accounting for a third – about £9m – of the money taken. Of about 2,000 victims globally who were persuaded to part with the largest sums, 652 were based in the UK – with the worst hit victims losing more than £100,000 each. While the Georgian prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into a Tbilisi-based operation, it is not clear if they are receiving any support from international colleagues. When asked by the Guardian last week, the UK's National Crime Agency did not say if it was collaborating with international agencies to investigate the call centre. The City of London police, which is the UK's lead police force for fraud, declined to answer when asked if it had offered Georgian authorities assistance.
