Southeast Asia scammers stole up to US$37 billion in 2023; Singapore ‘tip of the iceberg’: UN

“The transnational organised crime threat landscape in Southeast Asia is evolving faster than in any previous point in history,” according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

“The sheer scale of proceeds being generated within the region’s booming illicit economy has required the professionalisation and innovation of money laundering activities, and transnational criminal groups in Southeast Asia have emerged as global market leaders,” the report says.

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The dark world of Asia’s online casino industry

Hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked into those countries by criminal enterprises and forced to work in so-called scam centres with casinos, hotels and special economic zones among the property developments that have “become hubs for the booming illicit economy, adding to existing governance challenges in many of the region’s border areas.”