Latest Report from UNODC: Investment Scams and Pig-Butchering Scams Are Expanding Worldwide

Transnational criminal groups in East and Southeast Asia are expanding their fraudulent activities across the globe, countering efforts by authorities to crack down on them, according to a UN report released on Monday.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the report, Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centers, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia, through which it said that criminal groups in Asia reach out to remote areas with lax law enforcement where tend to be more susceptible to such activities.

Over the years, fraud groups have been popping up in Southeast Asia, including countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and the Philippines, where they are constantly shifting their dens and evading police investigations. Through tactics such as pig-butchering scams and investment traps, these criminals have caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to their victims. These scams are even starting to appear in the Americas and Latin America.

In Latin America, Brazil is also challenged by a range of criminal activities such as cyber scam, money laundering, etc. UNODC believed that there are links between these activities and criminal gangs in Southeast Asia.

UNODC said that hundreds of industrial-scale fraud syndicates generate nearly $40 billion in profits annually.

In addition to Asia, Africa has also become a popular area for rampant scams. Local police have launched several raids since the end of last year, arresting several suspects, including perpetrators of cryptocurrency scams and pig-butchering scams from Southeast Asia. In Zambia and Angola, local police have also uncovered several online scams.