Scam victims lost $114bn in Asia, Australia in 2025, says UN report
BANGKOK: Victims of transnational online scams in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand lost up to $114.1 billion last year, a UN report said on Tuesday, with estimated losses at least tripling from 2023. Southeast Asia, especially Cambodia and...
Victims of transnational online scams in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand lost as much as $114.1 billion last year, according to a United Nations report that points to a rapid expansion of the illicit industry across the region.
The report, published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and cited in a monitored public feed from Dawn World, said estimated losses from online scams in the region ranged from $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in 2025. That is at least three times higher than the $18 billion to $37 billion estimated for 2023, reflecting what the agency described as the “dramatic scaling of this criminal economy.”
The biggest losses in the region over the past two years were reported by China, South Korea and Taiwan, each of which lost billions of dollars, the report said.
Southeast Asia has become a major base for scam networks, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar, where criminal groups run fake romance and cryptocurrency investment schemes. The report said the scammers operating these frauds include both willing participants and trafficked victims, many of whom work in fortified compounds that target internet users around the world.
The UNODC said the cyber scam industry initially focused largely on Chinese speakers but has since widened its reach to victims globally. It also noted that criminal groups recruit and traffic people from many countries, with individuals from at least 80 countries and territories identified in scam compounds across the Mekong region.
The report said artificial intelligence-powered translation tools have made it easier for scammers to reach new audiences. Even so, recruitment ads still seek workers who can speak languages including German, Polish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Swedish and Norwegian, in addition to English.
Authorities in the region have come under pressure from countries including the United States, Britain and China to crack down on the business. The report said several alleged scam bosses were extradited from Cambodia to China over the past year after Washington and London imposed sanctions on firms and individuals accused of operating cross-border scam networks linked to human trafficking.
Despite those moves, the UNODC said many operations continue after arrests of leading figures. It also warned that some people released from raided centres later use the skills they learned to join criminal networks elsewhere.
UNODC regional representative Delphine Schantz said there can be a “thin distinction” between victims and people who end up using their experience for criminal purposes. She said some are returning to their countries of origin and connecting with existing criminal networks, adding that similar patterns are appearing in Africa and Europe, especially the Balkans.
The report said scam centres are only one part of a broader criminal ecosystem in Southeast Asia that has expanded over the past decade. That network also includes drug trafficking, mainly methamphetamine, child sexual exploitation and real estate investment activity, with criminals using trade routes and cryptocurrencies to conceal their operations.
The article is based on a monitored public feed and attributes its reporting to Dawn World and the UNODC report.
Source: Dawn World - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017419/scam-victims-lost-114bn-in-asia-australia-in-2025-says-un-report
