The United Nations revealed in a recent report that global electronic fraud, which generates billions of dollars, is expanding outside Southeast Asia to include South America Africa and Eastern Europe, warning that regional security measures have not succeeded in curbing the criminal networks behind them.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOC) said that organized criminal gangs have emerged in recent years in Southeast Asia, which have developed their activities to a highly complex global industry, based on the employment of tens of thousands of workers, many of whom have been trafficking or forcibly lured, to carry out electronic fraud targeting victims around the world.
“These gangs are like cancer, when they are eliminated in an area, it returns to appear in other weak areas and without sufficient preparation,” said Benedict Hoffman, the Acting Regional Representative of the United Nations Office in Asia and the Pacific, said.
Billion dollars losses and rapid expansion
According to United Nations estimates, there are hundreds of large electronic fraud farms around the world, achieving annual profits estimated at tens of billions of dollars.
In the United States alone, the size of the losses related to the fraud of cryptocurrencies reached more than $ 5.6 billion in 2023, including $ 4 million in what is known as “butcher’s” or “romantic fraud”, which usually targets the elderly and people exposed to emotional deception.
“The electronic fraud industry has grown more quickly than any cross -border crime, thanks to its ability to reach millions of victims without the need to transport illegal goods across the border,” said John Wagsk, regional analyst at the UN office.
Transformations in the map of criminal activity
Despite the intense security campaigns by China, Thailand and Myanmar on the border areas that are not subject to law, especially between Thailand and Myanmar, the gangs have transferred their operations to more isolated areas, such as Laos, Cambodia and West Myanmar, but expanded to new regions in South America, Africa (such as Zambia, Angola, Namibia), and Eastern Europe (Georgia).
In Cambodia, the raids led to gangs moved to remote areas, especially in the Koh Kong region, in the west of the country, and in the border areas with Thailand and Vietnam, according to the report.
A spokesman for the Cambodian government between Bona confirmed that his country is a victim of this criminal industry, noting that the government formed a special committee headed by Prime Minister Hun Manit to combat the phenomenon, by enhancing law enforcement, developing legislation and international cooperation.
“To address this complex problem, we need to cooperate, not to exchange the blame,” Bona said.
The diversity of the nationalities of the victims and employees
The United Nations indicated that the gangs have diversified the nationalities of their workers, polarizing individuals from more than 50 countries, including Brazil, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan, which reflects the extent of rapid globalization in electronic fraud.
During the recent security campaigns on the Thai mega border, dozens of victims who were lured or forced to work in fraud centers were rescued.
The United Nations stressed that the international community stands today in front of a “decisive turning point”, stressing that the failure to confront this global threat will lead to unprecedented repercussions in Southeast Asia, and may extend to other parts of the world.
The United Nations called on governments to intensify cooperation, and to pursue sources of financing these gangs, warning that the delay in moving will give these networks more power and flexibility in expansion and hiding.
