UN warns of cyber fraud worldwide

Large criminal networks have made billions of Internet frauds in Asia and are now expanding their operations in Europe, Africa, South America and beyond. Therefore, the UN requires international co-operation.

The UN warns that Asian crime networks that control the internet fraud industry and make profits in billions of dollars are expanding their operations worldwide.

The UN report says official measures taking different countries in Southeast Asia are failing to curb these criminal organisations, DW reports Periscope.

The UN report says that Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs lure the victims by promising investments, profits with cryptoids, romance novels and other frauds.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) cyber fraud has now become a sophisticated worldwide industry.

Gangs have numerous dorms in which tens of thousands of workers, mostly trafficked, are accommodated to deceive other people via the internet.

International co-operation is needed to fight crime groups

This type of crime is spreading as cancer”, says Benedict Hoffman, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

“Autorities oppose it in one area, but its roots never disappear; they simply migrate from one place to another”.

UNODC says criminal networks are expanding their operations from Asia to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and even some Pacific islands.

According to the UNODC report in 2023, criminal groups have released some $33 billion (U.S.) in East and Southeast Asian countries through cyber fraud (32.5 billion euros), and more than $5.6 billion (U.9 billion).

UNODC urged the international community to act, saying the situation has now reached a “critical turning point”. According to the UN, non-involvement in joint shares against these gangs would have “consequences unprecedented for Southeast Asia, which could have global impact”. / DW/