Asia’s scam menace prompts rare China-Asean-UN unified response

Cyber scams have harvested untold billions from victims in Asia and beyond over the last two to three years, many operating out of remote compounds beyond the reach of law enforcement staffed by workers who have been trafficked there and forced into crime.

Chinese nationals, some known fugitives, dominate the gangs that use online gambling, romance, cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange scams to target their victims – many of whom are in China or are part of the Chinese diaspora.

“Trafficking in persons connected to casinos and scam operations run by organised crime has mushroomed across Southeast Asia, particularly in the Mekong,” said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC regional representative, referring to the river that runs through mainland Southeast Asia.

“There is an urgent need for regional cooperation to address these increasingly integrated and interlinked crimes in the region, as well as the ecosystem they exist in.”

The broad strokes of the plan are to prevent “organised crime from infiltrating communities” and co-opting the economy and politics of the countries in which they operate, the text of the agreement says, as well as chasing down the proceeds of crime and “protecting vulnerable persons and victims from [further] harm”.