Interpol warns online scams are draining Asian economies and threatening security

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Conference on Combating Online Scams in Phnom Penh, Nicholas Court of Interpol warned that Southeast Asian nations are facing a sharp increase in online fraud, from crypto investment schemes to romance scams facilitated by dating platforms. He cited the Interpol Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment, which estimated global fraud losses at roughly US$442 billion in the previous year.

Court emphasized that these crimes are now viewed as a national-security threat because they siphon large sums from regional economies. Recent Operation Haechi actions uncovered US$342 million in illicit funds and froze 68,000 bank accounts across 40 nations, targeting a range of cyber-enabled crimes such as voice phishing, sextortion, and e-commerce fraud. The spread of organized fraud networks employing thousands of young people in countries like Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar underscores the transnational nature of the problem.