Victims of transnational online fraud across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand lost an estimated $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion in 2025, the United Nations reported on Tuesday, a figure that has tripled since 2023. The losses, driven overwhelmingly by investment scams and fake romance schemes, were detailed in a new assessment by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which described the expansion as a “dramatic scaling of this criminal economy”.

Southeast Asia, and in particular Cambodia and Myanmar, has become the operational hub for these networks, according to the report. Scammers operate from fortified compounds, some willingly and others trafficked, targeting internet users worldwide. Under pressure from Washington, London and Beijing, regional authorities have begun a crackdown: several alleged syndicate leaders were extradited from Cambodia to China over the past year, and the United States and Britain have imposed sanctions on firms and individuals accused of running cyberscams fuelled by human trafficking.

The UNODC assessment charts a structural shift in organised crime. Groups that once confined themselves to specific territories or illicit trades are now operating across multiple markets simultaneously, relying on shared services for money laundering, data harvesting and migrant smuggling. Delphine Schantz, the agency’s regional representative, likened the model to corporate franchising, with specialised departments plugged into a single interconnected network. The syndicates increasingly exploit special economic zones in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and use cryptocurrency platforms to move funds almost instantly, the report notes.

China, South Korea and Taiwan reported the largest financial losses over the past two years, each losing billions of dollars, according to the UNODC. The report also identifies individuals from at least 80 countries and territories inside scam compounds, with recruitment networks using transit hubs across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The UN agency warns that the evolution of these networks is challenging conventional law enforcement and threatening economic and social stability, as the criminal economy becomes more integrated, transnational and technologically sophisticated.