BANGKOK
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.
