The damage from scam networks in Asia has reached $114 billion: UN sounds the alarm
Based on my estimates, derived from data in the latest report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the scale of fraudulent operations in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in 2025 has reached an astronomical $88.3–114.1 billion. These are not just numbers — they are evidence of a profound transformation of the region's criminal economy.
The UNODC methodology accounts for both officially recorded losses and the estimated share of victims who, for various reasons, do not report to authorities. For comparison, in 2023, the same indicator was estimated at $18–37 billion. Thus, over two years, the damage has roughly tripled, indicating an explosive growth in organized fraud.
Among countries with the highest official losses for 2024–2025, China ($5.1 billion), the Republic of Korea ($3.5 billion), and Taiwan ($2.8 billion) lead. However, the real figures are likely significantly higher, given incomplete statistics.
The Criminal Economy as a Cross-Border Network
The UNODC emphasizes that fragmented syndicates have transformed into a single cross-border network with shared infrastructure for fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling. The agency's regional representative, Delphine Schantz, compared this model to corporate franchising, where each "specialized firm" provides its services within a unified criminal ecosystem.
UNODC lead analyst Inshik Sim noted that the scale and complexity of this economy "outpace existing countermeasures." A significant portion of operations is linked to so-called scam centers — isolated compounds where people are detained and forced to work in investment and romance scams.
Cryptocurrencies — The Payment Infrastructure of Crime
The role of cryptocurrencies in this system deserves special attention. The report explicitly states that USDT on the TRON network has become a parallel financial system for nearly instant, cheap, and pseudonymous cross-border transfers. Criminal groups use P2P platforms, over-the-counter brokers, and underground banking networks to convert fiat into stablecoins and back, effectively bypassing bank controls.
The UNODC calls for training law enforcement in tracking and confiscating crypto assets. As Schantz rightly noted, simply disrupting operations is insufficient if the revenues of criminal networks remain out of reach.
AI and Satellite Communications: New Tools for Old Schemes
Criminal groups are actively adopting generative AI, deepfakes, encrypted messengers, and satellite internet (including Starlink). Generative AI lowers the technical barrier for complex fraud schemes: even small groups can use AI translation, character generation, phishing texts, and voice cloning. The use of legitimate advertising networks to distribute malware grew by 42% year-over-year in 2025.
Satellite internet allows attackers to rely less on local telecom operators and operate in remote areas, making combating them even more challenging.
The Geography of Recruitment is Expanding
People from at least 80 countries have been identified in the region's scam compounds. Recruitment networks are actively seeking employees and victims outside Asia, requiring knowledge of German, Polish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French, Swedish, Norwegian, and English. This is an alarming signal: the geography of recruitment is expanding, and the risk of forced criminal activity for new workers is growing.
The UNODC also warns that forceful pressure on individual sites does not destroy the infrastructure — networks simply change jurisdictions and resume operations through new nodes.
My expert commentary: The UNODC figures are just the tip of the iceberg. The real damage, including indirect losses and psychological harm to victims, could be many times greater. The key problem is not the technological vulnerability of cryptocurrencies, but the lack of effective international coordination in combating the cross-border criminal economy. As long as law enforcement acts in a fragmented manner, criminals will remain one step ahead.