The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime revealed that scams operating from Southeast Asia caused between $88.3 and $114.1 billion in losses across Asia-Pacific in 2025, more than triple the 2023 estimates. These criminal networks operate as transnational franchises providing money laundering, fraud, human trafficking and data collection services, with victims from at least 80 countries. Artificial intelligence, deepfakes and malvertising grew by 42% in 2025, while profits are moved and laundered through cryptocurrency. The US justice department has filed five civil forfeiture cases targeting over $25 million in cryptocurrency, including the largest Bitcoin seizure in US history: 127,271 BTC linked to the Chen Zhi Prince Group, worth approximately $15 billion.
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