US President Trump has personally urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to address transnational criminal organizations involved in Southeast Asia's online scam industry and fentanyl trafficking, with the US pushing for Chinese crime bosses to face international accountability.
FBI Director Kash Patel met Cambodian PM Hun Manet to discuss joint efforts against international online scam operations, which caused estimated losses of $114 billion in Asia-Pacific by 2025. The U.S. prioritizes combating these scams, linked to human trafficking.
After China's 2023 crackdown on online scams in Southeast Asia, criminal syndicates shifted their primary targets from Chinese nationals to Americans, leading to significant financial losses for US victims and creating a global "whack-a-mole" challenge.
A new UNODC report reveals online scams, primarily investment fraud, cost victims an estimated US$88.3 billion to US$114.1 billion last year, a significant increase from 2023. Authorities in an unspecified region are reportedly cracking down on this illicit industry under pressure from the United States, Britain, and China.
A new study by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) found 75% of European adults encountered a scam in the past year, with €50 billion lost. Southeast Asia is a major hub for cyberscamming, with syndicates stealing billions annually. Europe lags behind the US in anti-scam actions.
The Chinese Consulate General in Melbourne issued a warning to students and citizens about increasing online and telecom scams. Recent cases include romance scams leading to extortion, fraudulent gift card and currency exchange deals, and fake investment schemes. Scammers impersonate officials and companies, demanding personal information and money transfers.
Indonesia bans children from using digital platforms, prompting support from child psychologists but posing compliance challenges for e-commerce companies to implement accurate, privacy-protecting age-verification systems.
Police in Malaysia's Penang state have found that ethnic Indians are significantly less likely to fall for online scams compared to other racial groups. Only 7% of 5,090 scam cases reported in Penang last year involved Indian victims, despite scammers targeting all communities equally. Penang CCID deputy chief Pang Meng Tuck attributed this to Indians responding to scammers with a barrage of questions. The findings come as Malaysia removed over 98,500 scam-related posts in 2025, up from 63,652 in 2024.
