- There are hundreds of scam holds over Southeast Asia, the UN says
- Local authorities carry out raid but they are ineffective
- The industry is spreading to Africa and South America
Despite governments and law enforcement authorities in the Southeast Asian region trying their best to contain the threat, the fraud industry thrives and benefits from the fact that there are many remote, inaccessible regions and many poor, under -educated people to abuse.
This is according to a new report from the United Nations office on drugs and crime (UNODC). As reported by Cybergenws, the UNODC said the scam industry is a “multibillion dollar” and it is expanded globally to include South America and Africa.
It comes from Southeast Asia, where there are “hundreds” of large farms that dwell tens of thousands of workers. Some of these people were even traded and forced to work on these scams. These farms generate “tens of thousands of billions of dollars” in annual profits, UNODC said.
Spreads like cancer
Governments in Southeast Asian countries, such as China, Thailand, Myanmar and many others, are constantly trying to disturb these activities, but apparently they do not achieve much as the groups can simply pick up and move elsewhere.
“It spreads like a cancer,” said Benedict Hofmann, UNODC functioning regional representative of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “Authorities treat it in an area, but the roots never disappear; they simply wander.”
“The regional cyber -fraud -Industri … has surpassed other transnational crimes, considering that it is easily scalable and able to reach millions of potential victims online without the need to move or traffic illegal goods across borders,” said John Wojcik, a regional analyst with UNODC.
The report mentions crashes in “lawless areas” of the Thai Myanmar border, Cambodia and elsewhere. The criminals would simply migrate to Laos, Myanmar and other “most remote, vulnerable and under -prepared parts of Southeast Asia”.
The money stolen through fraud still needs to be laundered, which is why these groups are expanded to Africa and South America, where they cooperate with drug cartels. UNODC says that operations are established in Zambia, Angola and Namibia, but also in Eastern European countries such as Georgia.
Via Cygenerws
