UN: Damage from scam networks in the Asia-Pacific region has reached $114 billion — cryptocurrencies have become the financial backbone of crime
The scale of the criminal economy in East and Southeast Asia, including Australia and New Zealand, is estimated at between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion for 2025. This is an assessment of damages from scam operations conducted by experts from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These are approximate figures based on recorded losses and the estimated share of victims who do not report to authorities. For comparison, in 2023 this figure was $18–37 billion, meaning growth over two years of roughly threefold.
Among countries with the largest officially recorded losses for 2024–2025, China ($5.1 billion), the Republic of Korea ($3.5 billion), and Taiwan ($2.8 billion) lead.
The Criminal Economy as Corporate Franchising
The UNODC notes a fundamental restructuring of the regional criminal economy. Disparate syndicates have transformed into a cross-border network with shared infrastructure for fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, and migrant smuggling. Experts compare this model to corporate franchising, where specialized "departments" for laundering, data collection, and criminal services are connected to a single network. The scale and complexity of this system, according to a leading UNODC analyst, "outpace existing countermeasures."
Cryptocurrencies: USDT and TRON as a Parallel Financial System
Cryptocurrencies play a key role in settlements and money laundering. Criminal groups systematically use digital assets, encrypted communications, and artificial intelligence. The report pays special attention to the pair of USDT (Tether) and the TRON blockchain. This combination, according to experts, has created a parallel financial system for near-instant, cheap, and pseudonymous cross-border transfers. Through P2P platforms, over-the-counter brokers, and underground banking networks, criminals convert fiat into stablecoins and back, bypassing banking controls. The UNODC calls for training law enforcement in tracking and confiscating crypto assets, since simply disrupting operations is ineffective if proceeds remain out of reach.
AI, Deepfakes, and Starlink: The New Arsenal of Scammers
Criminal networks are actively adopting generative AI, deepfakes, encrypted messengers, and satellite communications, including Starlink. Generative AI lowers the barrier for complex schemes: small groups can use AI translation, voice cloning, and real-time deepfake video. A 42% year-over-year increase in the use of legitimate advertising networks to distribute malware was recorded in 2025. Satellite internet allows criminals to rely less on local operators and operate in remote areas.
Global Recruitment and Infrastructure Resilience
People from at least 80 countries have been identified in scam compounds in the region. Recruitment networks are expanding geographically, seeking workers with knowledge of German, Polish, Spanish, French, and other European languages. Pressure on individual sites does not destroy the infrastructure: networks change jurisdictions, fragment operations, and recover through new nodes.
My expert commentary: The $114 billion figure is just the tip of the iceberg. The actual damage could be significantly higher, given victims' reluctance to report to authorities due to shame or fear. The key takeaway for the crypto community: USDT on TRON has become not just a tool, but a critical infrastructure for this shadow economy. Without a change in approach to regulating stablecoins and P2P exchanges, we risk seeing further exponential growth of such schemes.