UN Warns Online Scams Drain Up to $114 Billion a Year, Commends Cambodia's Response
A senior UN official says online scams now cost the Asia-Pacific region up to $114 billion a year, while praising Cambodia's recent crackdown on scam operations.
Online fraud and scams have grown into a sprawling cross-border threat, draining as much as US$114 billion annually from East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, with losses climbing fast, a senior United Nations official warned on Wednesday.
Addressing the opening day of the International Conference on Combating Online Scams in Phnom Penh on September 23, Delphine Schantz, regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC-ROSEAP), said the crime reaches every layer of society and chips away at public confidence in institutions and the economy.
"Our most recent Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment in Southeast Asia estimates that scam-related losses across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand now reach up to $114 billion each year, and that figure is rising rapidly," she said.
She warned that these enormous profits do more than weaken the rule of law — they are funneled back into criminal networks to fuel further expansion.
From Local Gangs to Corporate-Style Crime
Schantz explained how scattered, locally based syndicates across Southeast Asia have consolidated into an advanced, technology-driven criminal economy that resembles corporate franchising, complete with dedicated divisions for money laundering, human trafficking and data collection.
Offenders, she added, are increasingly exploiting and even building new technologies — including cryptocurrencies — to stay ahead of traditional policing methods.
Cambodia Praised as Positive Example
She singled out Cambodia as an encouraging illustration of the region's strengthening efforts.
"Cambodia is a good example of this. In recent months, we have seen more law enforcement operations aimed at dismantling scam centres. The establishment of the Commission for Combating Technology-enabled Scams (CCTC) sends a very important signal, and today's conference is a further step in demonstrating a willingness to cooperate," she said.
Even as she welcomed the progress, Schantz urged deeper shared understanding of crime patterns, consistent regulatory frameworks, improved handling of digital evidence, tighter collaboration between agencies and the private sector, and lasting political will — so that efforts deliver enduring results rather than merely shifting the problem elsewhere.