Washington [US], October 24: Southeast Asian countries have continuously recorded new developments related to online fraud in recent days.
Many campaigns
Authorities in several Southeast Asian countries have stepped up their investigations and raids on scam centers. According to the Khmer Times , Cambodian police announced yesterday (October 23) that they had raided a complex in the capital Phnom Penh, arresting 86 people, including 57 South Korean citizens and 29 Chinese. A delegation of South Korean lawmakers led by Kim Seok-ki also accompanied the Cambodian police in the raid.
The raids come as Seoul and Phnom Penh are stepping up cooperation to tackle online scams, kidnappings and torture of South Koreans in scam dens in Cambodia. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said there are about 200,000 people working in 50 scam centers operating in major cities in Cambodia. The NIS said many South Koreans "should be viewed as suspects rather than victims" because they come to Cambodia with clear financial motives and actively participate in crimes, Yonhap reported.
In Myanmar, authorities have also launched a large-scale crackdown to eliminate an online fraud network in Kayin State, focusing on the KK Park complex, near the Thai border. The siege of KK Park began on October 16, with Myanmar authorities arresting about 2,200 people, while hundreds tried to flee to Thailand.
Sawanit Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya, deputy governor of Thailand's Tak province, said that as of the morning of October 23, 677 people had escaped from the KK Park complex and crossed the Moei River into Thailand. He said the police would investigate and the individuals could be prosecuted for illegal border crossing if they were not victims of human trafficking. Thai politics also saw the resignation of Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong on October 22, after allegations of his involvement in fraudulent activities in Cambodia, which he strongly denied.
International issues
Not only Southeast Asian countries are affected by the activities of fraud centers in the region, citizens of many countries around the world are at risk of becoming victims of sophisticated networks specializing in cheating in love or offering to invest in fake cryptocurrency exchanges. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) noted on October 22 that fraud activities are now more complex as criminal groups take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) to reach more target groups, and at the same time create fake identities to increase credibility, thereby trapping victims.
According to Interpol, as of March, victims from 66 countries on every continent had been trafficked into online scams; 74% of victims were trafficked to Southeast Asia. Interpol has also recorded an increase in scams in other regions, including the Middle East, West Africa and Central America. In September, the UN warned that Timor Leste had become the latest hotspot for scams in Southeast Asia.
Many individuals, banks and organizations have suffered significant losses due to fraud. According to the UNODC, fraud organizations in Southeast Asia appropriated up to 37 billion USD in 2023. The New York Times on October 23, citing an announcement from the US Treasury Department, said that the people of this country lost at least 10 billion USD due to fraud activities originating from Southeast Asia in 2024, an increase of 66% compared to the previous year.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
