Transnational organized crime groups based in East and Southeast Asia are expanding their global footprint, shifting scam operations to new continents in the wake of mounting law enforcement crackdowns in their home regions, according to a damning new report from the United Nations.
The report, titled “Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centers, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia,” was released Monday by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It reveals that industrial-scale scam operations, once concentrated in the border zones of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Philippines, are now popping up in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, South Asia, and even remote Pacific islands.
“These syndicates are adapting quickly — shifting to jurisdictions with weaker oversight and increasing their use of advanced technology,” said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “This reflects both natural expansion and a hedging strategy against future disruptions in Southeast Asia.”
A $40 Billion Global Criminal Industry
According to UNODC, hundreds of scam centers — involved in romance frauds, fake investment schemes, illegal gambling, and more — are estimated to rake in nearly $40 billion in profits annually. The massive revenue stream is fueling a parallel expansion of underground banking, cybercrime infrastructure, and human trafficking networks.
In Africa, countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, and Angola have reported police raids and arrests of East and Southeast Asian nationals linked to romance and cryptocurrency scams. Nigeria, in particular, has emerged as a new hub, with arrests in late 2024 and early 2025 pointing to international coordination in cyber-enabled fraud.
In Latin America, Brazil has faced a rising wave of online scams and money laundering operations tied to Southeast Asian groups. In Peru, more than 40 Malaysians were rescued in late 2023 from a human trafficking operation run by the Taiwan-based Red Dragon syndicate, which forced victims to commit online fraud.
The UNODC report also documents similar crackdowns in the Middle East and the Pacific islands, where criminal syndicates have quietly established new operational outposts.
Technology Accelerates the Threat
The report warns that criminal networks are increasingly adopting cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, deepfakes, malware, and stolen data markets, to expand their reach and evade detection. This “professionalization” of organized crime, paired with global expansion, is ushering in what the report describes as a new era of “crime as a service.”
Hofmann emphasized that governments must step up their game: “The convergence between technological advancement and geographical expansion translates into a new intensity in the scam industry — one that requires a more coordinated, global response.”
UNODC is urging international collaboration to disrupt these operations, protect vulnerable communities, and dismantle the financial and technological ecosystems that allow these scam centers to thrive.
