According to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Southeast Asian criminal networks are swiftly broadening their international reach by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrencies, and encrypted messaging services.
Online scams alone are projected to inflict global losses of between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion in 2025.
Released on Tuesday, the report warns that criminal networks once concentrated in Southeast Asia have evolved into sophisticated transnational organisations, extending their operations far beyond the region.
Besides running large-scale online scam centres, these groups are increasingly involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, wildlife smuggling and money laundering across multiple continents.
According to the UNODC, the syndicates are leveraging AI, deepfakes, malware and encrypted communication platforms to carry out cyber fraud and financial crimes on a global scale.
The report says these technologies are allowing criminals to create convincing phishing campaigns, impersonate victims through real-time voice and video deepfakes, and target people in multiple languages using AI-powered translation tools.
The report also highlights growing concerns over the exploitation of children.
Hundreds of scam compounds operating across Southeast Asia have become hubs for trafficking and the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Researchers noted a sharp rise in AI-generated child sexual images being shared through encrypted messaging platforms. Criminal groups are using generative AI and deepfake technology to facilitate online sexual extortion, grooming and livestreamed abuse.
Beyond cybercrime, the report estimates the illegal drug trade in Southeast Asia and neighbouring countries to be worth as much as $109 billion annually.
Methamphetamine, heroin and ketamine continue to dominate the trade, while the Sulu-Celebes maritime corridor linking Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines has emerged as a key transit route for cocaine shipments from Latin America into Asia.
The same route is also increasingly being used to smuggle wildlife and small arms.
The UNODC further noted that cryptocurrencies, satellite communications and private messaging platforms have become integral to what it describes as a "criminal service infrastructure", enabling syndicates to launder money, coordinate operations and evade law enforcement.
Despite recent crackdowns on large scam centres in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, the report says criminal organisations have adapted quickly by relocating their operations to smaller sites or expanding into other regions.
"They were destroyed, but none of the operations stopped," Seong Jae Shin, an analyst with the UNODC, said, adding that many scam centres have simply moved into villas and other private properties, making them harder for authorities to detect.
The UN agency has called for stronger international cooperation and coordinated action across financial systems, digital platforms and law enforcement agencies to tackle the rapidly evolving global criminal ecosystem.