UN reports 3.7 trillion baht lost to Asian online scams in 2025

Thairath•International•1d ago

Reader Briefing

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports a massive surge in financial losses from online scams across Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in 2025.

•Online scam victims in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand lost between 88.3 billion and 114.1 billion USD in 2025.
•Financial losses in 2025 increased at least three-fold compared to 2023.
•Cambodia and Myanmar have become major hubs for online scam networks in Southeast Asia.
•China, South Korea, and Taiwan recorded the highest damage values in the region over the past two years.

Overview

•Victims in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand lost up to 114.1 billion USD (approximately 3.7 trillion Baht) in 2025.
•Losses in 2025 grew at least three times from 2023, when damages were estimated between 18 billion and 37 billion USD.
•The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime attributes the jump in losses to the rapid expansion of transnational crime networks, including investment scams, cryptocurrency scams, and romance scams.
•Cambodia and Myanmar serve as key hubs for Southeast Asian online scams, utilizing both voluntary participants and human trafficking victims forced to work in secure centers.
•Cambodia has extradited several alleged scam network leaders to China for prosecution following pressure from countries including the US, UK, and China.
•The United States and United Kingdom have announced sanctions against individuals and companies involved in online scam businesses linked to human trafficking.
•China, South Korea, and Taiwan suffered the highest financial losses in the region over the last two years, with each losing billions of USD.
•The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warns that Southeast Asian crime networks are linked to drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, money laundering, and illegal real estate investment.

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Key Entities

Organization

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(สำนักงานว่าด้วยยาเสพติดและอาชญากรรมแห่งสหประชาชาติ)ℹ️

The agency that released the report on online scam losses and warned about transnational crime networks in Asia.

Place

Cambodia(กัมพูชา)ℹ️

A major hub for online scam networks in Southeast Asia that has extradited scam leaders to China.

Myanmar(เมียนมา)ℹ️

A major hub for online scam networks in Southeast Asia.

United States(สหรัฐฯ)ℹ️

A country that pressured regional governments to crack down on crime and sanctioned online scam businesses.

United Kingdom(อังกฤษ)ℹ️

A country that pressured regional governments to crack down on crime and sanctioned online scam businesses.

China(จีน)ℹ️

A country that pressured regional governments for crackdowns, received extradited suspects from Cambodia, and suffered high scam losses.

South Korea(เกาหลีใต้)ℹ️

An area with some of the highest values of damage from online scams in the region.

Taiwan(ไต้หวัน)ℹ️

An area with some of the highest values of damage from online scams in the region.

Australia(ออสเตรเลีย)ℹ️

A region where victims of online scams suffered financial losses.

New Zealand(นิวซีแลนด์)ℹ️

A region where victims of online scams suffered financial losses.