Asian Scam Farms: ‘Industrial Scale,’ Warns UN Report
Pig butchering and other serious scams still thriving, despite crackdowns in Dubai and Myanmar.
Organized crime groups use hundreds of thousands of slaves to scam tens of billions of dollars from victims. That’s the stark warning from the United Nations this week, pointing to massive fraud factories moving into “vulnerable” parts of Asia.
The UN researchers say we’ve reached a tipping point in the scale of these serious scams. In today’s SB Blogwatch, we wallow in glorious mud.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: How Dubai tackled it.
Bacon Redux
What’s the craic? Grant Peck reports: UN researchers warn that Asian scam operations are spreading across the rest of the world
“Billions of dollars”
Transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their lucrative scam operations across the globe in response to increased crackdowns by authorities, according to a U.N. report. … The involvement of criminal groups from other parts of the world is also growing, the report says.
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The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime or UNODC … estimates that hundreds of industrial-scale scam centers generate just under $40 billion in annual profits. … New online markets, money laundering networks, stolen data products, malware, artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies are laying the ground for the rise of crime as a service, the report says.
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For several years, scam compounds have proliferated in Southeast Asia, especially in border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as in the Philippines. … More recently, scam centers that have bilked victims out of billions of dollars through false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes are now being reported operating as far afield as Africa and Latin America. … In Africa, Nigeria has become a hot spot, with police raids in late 2024 and early 2025 leading to many arrests, including [for] cryptocurrency and romance scams.
How big is the problem? James Reddick states some stats: Southeast Asian cyber fraud industry at ‘inflection point’ as it expands globally
“Vulnerable parts of the world”
In the U.S., victims of pig butchering scams reported $4.4 billion in losses. The agency previously estimated that more than 200,000 people had been trafficked into compounds in Southeast Asia [where] enslavement is still rampant.
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Despite China- and Thailand-led crackdowns on scam compounds in Myanmar, the organized crime groups behind the industry are growing increasingly professional and deepening ties with other regions and illicit actors. … Criminal groups are able to move operations seemingly overnight within the region in response to law enforcement activity … and they are increasingly expanding abroad.
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“They’ve started to hedge and develop footholds and strongholds in … smaller and perhaps more vulnerable parts of the world,” said John Wojcik, a regional analyst with UNODC. … One of those areas is the Pacific islands, where criminal groups … have built up infrastructure like casinos and resorts and have taken advantage of citizenship-by-investment schemes on islands like Vanuatu.
Horse’s mouth? John Wojcik, Mark Bo, Seong Jae Shin and Dylan Hartnett call this moment an Inflection Point
“Cyber-enabled fraud”
Organized crime in Southeast Asia is evolving faster than at any previous point in history. … Industrial scale cyber-enabled fraud and scam centres, driven by sophisticated transnational syndicates and interconnected networks of money launderers, human traffickers, data brokers, and a growing number of other specialist service providers [have] fundamentally reshaped the regional threat landscape.
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The ability to monitor and investigate threats such as cyber-enabled fraud, underground banking, and misuse of virtual assets should be continuously developed. … Specialized training, inter-agency collaboration, and appropriate technology all contribute to stronger enforcement outcomes.
What’s the real issue? From a technology standpoint, the real issue is the phone system—at least, according to metalman:
The real issue is that the whole phone system is porous … so we lurch along, the scams very much like a parasitic infection that is only an inconvenience to its host species, to which we apply powders and salves. The question, then: Is there the will to rebuild everything with a real immune system that is effective enough to prevent any scam ecosystem from evolving?
Why has it come to this? Is it China’s fault? No, says Ossi:
This industry is yet another unpredicted consequence of COVID. Triad gangs ran the gambling operations in Macau. When COVID struck, they needed another way to make money fast, and they hit on scamming.
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China and the Chinese government are no more responsible for this than Italy is for the New York mafia. In fact, the biggest victims of these gangs have been Chinese.
How do people fall for it? commodore73 tells us a story:
My … older brother got taken for maybe $5K by a “woman” in Ghana maybe a year ago. They were talking, exchanging dirty photos, having phone sex, and so forth for months. … I strongly advised him to cease communications, but he pushed forward anyway. She had something like 25 kilos of gold.
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He paid for her “passport” and “visa” and “airfare” and … literally waited for her near the luggage at OAK with flowers. … You can literally do a simple Google and find similar stories, but he either didn’t even do that or simply didn’t want to believe it. Some men are extremely lonely and idealistic about love, maybe even hopeless, and we all know that many are just stupid and horny.
And rawgabbit explains another scam format:
It is called pig butchering. Your online girlfriend teaches you how to invest in crypto. Both you and her get incredibly rich and you pour more and more money into your investment. … One day you learn everything was a lie: Your online girlfriend [and] the riches you supposedly earned.
Lest we forget, the scammers you’re talking to are probably enslaved to the organized criminals. anthonyhegedus has grim fascination:
The psychology of scamming is fascinating. Individuals who have themselves been trafficked/scammed/kidnapped use their own skills to convince other people to part with their money seemingly with such ease. … I don’t see this ending well.
Meanwhile, gweihir has a two-word solution:
Vote better. This is a solved problem, but it requires political will.
And Finally:
Huge pig butchering operation in Dubai
You have been reading SB Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites—so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi, @richij, @[email protected], @richi.bsky.social or [email protected]. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Do not stare into laser with remaining eye. E&OE. 30.
Image sauce: Pascal Debrunner (via Unsplash; leveled and cropped)
