AI-Driven Scams Spark Global Fraud Crackdown Push

Criminal networks target victims worldwide from scam centres in Southeast Asia like this one in the Philippines.

The Sawyers from Australia were never particularly interested in volatile investments. As they approached retirement, the idea of a low-risk option for their pension seemed appealing. But one day, after clicking on a seemingly legitimate online advert offering a low-risk plan, they set in motion a process that would ultimately cost them more than $2.5 million.

“The scammer was extraordinarily believable,” said Kim Sawyer, a former university professor in Melbourne. “He had a British accent, used all the right financial terms and knew how to persuade us by appearing credible every time.”

The Sawyers are not an isolated case.

Using sophisticated cyber tools, artificial intelligence and impersonation techniques, scammers operating from centres across Southeast Asia have been defrauding victims of billions of dollars. In 2024 alone, the United States reported losses of $10 billion to scam operations based in the region.

The victims targeted by these scammers are spread across the world and, in many cases, are highly educated. The Sawyers, for instance, both hold master’s degrees and have experience in the stock market.

Partnerships against organised fraud

Although scams are increasingly global, responses are also becoming more transnational.

Governments, law enforcement agencies, private companies and civil society groups were brought together by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and INTERPOL at the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna, Austria, with a mandate to work more closely through:

shared intelligence

joint investigations

streamlined cross-border prosecutions

Last December in Bangkok, representatives from nearly 60 countries gathered alongside tech giants Meta and TikTok to launch the Global Partnership Against Online Scams.

The Bangkok conference, hosted by the Government of Thailand and UNODC, followed by the Global Fraud Summit, marks a diplomatic turning point for international cooperation against scam centres.

However, the criminal infrastructure entrenched across Southeast Asia continues to maintain a global reach.

An entire criminal ecosystem

These operations go far beyond fraud. The networks facilitate money laundering, develop and deploy malware, weaponise artificial intelligence for deepfakes and voice cloning, and sell cybercrime capabilities as services.

Recent raids in the Philippines and Cambodia reveal a consistent pattern: a single scam centre is often just one part of a broader criminal network generating billions in illicit financial flows.

This is organised crime at scale, where fraud is only the surface layer of a deeper ecosystem involving corruption, human trafficking and transnational money laundering.

“We need to focus on prosecuting high-level criminals, following financial trails and identifying the networks behind these operations,” said Delphine Schantz, UNODC’s regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

“The complexity of these crimes requires a whole-of-government approach and stronger coordination among governments, financial intelligence units and digital banks.”

On-the-ground responses

Philippines:

During a recent visit to a former scam centre in Manila, UNODC officials and investigators walked through rooms where crime bosses once ran operations just hundreds of metres from government offices and foreign embassies.

The compound, now converted into offices for the Philippines’ Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC), still contains rooms left in their original state. These include entertainment spaces such as karaoke rooms and gaming halls, as well as a torture chamber used to punish trafficked workers who failed to meet quotas.

A logbook recovered from the site listed politicians, municipal officials and police officers as guests, highlighting the corruption that allowed such operations to thrive.

“How do you prove cybercrime in 36 hours? It’s not possible,” said PAOCC’s operations director, recalling the urgency following the raid, when authorities had just over a day to file charges before legal deadlines expired.

UNODC is supporting countries in the region by:

strengthening the capacity to gather, analyse and share electronic evidence

limiting the ability of organised groups to move funds through underground banking systems and casinos

improving cooperation to stop human trafficking into scam centres

In the Philippines, UNODC is also assisting agencies in developing standard operating procedures for victim-centred responses, including:

identifying and repatriating victims

collecting evidence

detaining alleged perpetrators

UNODC is further supporting efforts to draft a national strategy against transnational organised crime.

Cambodia:

A delegation of prosecutors, investigators and central authorities from various countries visited a raided scam centre in Phnom Penh last December alongside UNODC officials.

They discussed mutual legal assistance, extradition, asset recovery and proper handling of digital evidence across borders, all critical to tackling the scam industry.

The visit followed Cambodia’s establishment of the Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS), a high-level body chaired by the Prime Minister, with representatives from 25 ministries and authority to coordinate with law enforcement nationwide.

Towards a global response

Despite increased attention and enforcement efforts, scam centres continue to operate, often relocating after raids. While governments struggle to keep pace, victims continue to lose billions.

The Global Fraud Summit focused on turning political commitments into long-term action. Leaders discussed priorities and solutions, but officials stressed the need for:

joint cross-border operations

coordinated prosecutions

real-time intelligence sharing

‘They take your money and your soul’

Mr Sawyer said he and his wife, along with many other victims, feel let down by the response from banks and authorities.

“The scammer works twice: they take your money and they take your soul,” he said. “They take your self-worth. Then you feel like you’re being scammed again by the lack of response from authorities.”

He hopes that stronger international cooperation will ensure victims benefit from effective solutions already implemented elsewhere.