Southeast Asia's scam economy
Industrial-scale fraud runs out of compounds across the region, staffed in part by trafficking victims and supplied by online marketplaces that sell every component of the work. We follow the enforcement actions, the marketplaces behind them, and the losses on both sides of the transaction.
The isolation that keeps an employer out of your personal apps also keeps a bank's malware checks away from the cloned copy of its own app.
11 Sep 2026 Xinbi Guarantee Moved $24 Billion. The Seizure Took $52.8 Million.The United States seized the marketplace's Telegram channels and restrained $52.8 million, about two tenths of one per cent of what the platform has processed since 2022.
7 Aug 2026 Southeast Asia Hosts the Scam Compounds. East Asia and Australasia Lose the MoneyUNODC puts 2025 scam losses at US$88.3–114.1 billion across three sub-regions. On its own breakdown South-East Asia accounts for 8.4 to 13.2 per cent of them.
3 Aug 2026 Singapore's Cyber Command Ran Its First Scam Sweep. It Was the Third in Six WeeksSingapore stood up a dedicated Cyber Command on 3 July. Its first islandwide scam sweep was the third such operation in six weeks, and the smallest.
22 Apr 2026 Deepfake Fraud Surges 300% in ASEAN Banking — Singapore Banks Respond With Biometric MandatesDeepfake fraud targeting ASEAN banks surged 300% in 2025-2026. Singapore banks are mandating biometric verification. Here is what customers and businesses need to know.
5 Apr 2026 Singapore Lost S$1.1 Billion to Scams in 2024 — AI Voice Cloning Is Making It WorseSingapore lost S$1.1 billion to scams in 2024. AI voice cloning and deepfakes are making traditional awareness-based defences less effective. Here is what changed.
2 Mar 2026 Myanmar's Cyber Scam Compounds Are Using AI to Target ASEAN VictimsASEAN perspective on Myanmar's Cyber Scam Compounds Are Using AI to Target ASEAN Victims. Technical analysis, regional impact, and expert verdict for businesses and security profes...
12 Feb 2026 The 37 Billion Dollar ASEAN Cyber Fraud Economy — How It Became IndustrialisedASEAN perspective on The 37 Billion Dollar ASEAN Cyber Fraud Economy — How It Became Industrialised. Technical analysis, regional impact, and expert verdict for businesses and secu...
22 Jan 2026 Cambodia and Myanmar Cyber Fraud Syndicates Expanding — INTERPOL Issues ASEAN AlertASEAN perspective on Cambodia and Myanmar Cyber Fraud Syndicates Expanding — INTERPOL Issues ASEAN Al. Technical analysis, regional impact, and expert verdict for businesses and se...