Cyber gangs based in Southeast Asia and China are scamming people out of billions of pounds a year via investment, crypto, and romance scams.

The insidious proliferation of these scams has been deemed a “cancer” by the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Benedikt Hofmann.

A new report from the UNODC found that these scams were largely concentrated in Myanmar due to their contentious borders as well as special economic zones in Cambodia and Laos.

The scams are often committed by a mass group of workers that are often trafficked and forced to work in compounds.

According to the report, eastern and southeastern Asian countries lost around $37 billion to cyber fraud in 2023, with a “much larger estimated loss” globally.

Unfortunately, the issue seems to be expanding to countries in Africa such as Zambia, Angola, and Namibia, as well as islands in the Pacific such as Tonga, Fiji, Palau, and Vanuata.

The global reach of these crime syndicates is even further, the UN found, as these gangs are teaming up with drug cartels in South America, as well as mob and mafia organisations.

The report noted that illegal cryptocurrency mining has evolved into a “powerful tool” for money laundering.

Crackdowns have occurred across Asia, including a major crackdown on scam – an organised push from the Chinese government led to the liberation of 7,000 workers from at least 24 countries.

However, the UN says that these crackdowns are not dissolving the groups, but instead relocating them.

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For instance, a 2023 raid arrested 50 Chinese nationals working in a militia-controlled territory in Libya on a crypto-mining operation in Libya, showing how this issue is transcending borders.

“It spreads like a cancer,” Hoffman said.

“Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear, they simply migrate.”

New technological developments, from payment systems to encryption and crypto, only seem to be further enabling these groups to escape law enforcement and target more victims.