World Fraudster Syndicate Attacks
Asia, IDR 1,019 T Disappears
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Online fraud operations continue to grow in the Southeast Asia region. Losses caused by online fraud syndicates are estimated at US$ 64 billion (Rp. 1,019 trillion) globally every year.
Specifically in three Southeast Asian countries, namely Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, annual losses are estimated at US$ 43.8 billion (Rp. 697 trillion), according to the latest report from a non-profit organization from the United States (US), the Institute of Peace.
The average method of fraud is nicknamed ‘pig butchering’, namely targeting victims on dating applications. Fraudsters try to seduce and develop intimate personal relationships with their victims.
Then, the fraudster will convince the victim to make fraudulent investments that end up in the pockets of cybercriminals.
“An issue that was previously on a regional scale is quickly becoming a global issue,” said USIP Country Director, Jason Tower, quoted from The Record, Thursday (16/5/2024).
“The method has expanded to many countries. There are alliances in the Middle East and Africa. The criminals are the same individuals and are expanding their operations,” he said.
Researchers note that in recent months there has been an increase in online fraud targeting victims specifically non-Chinese and non-Mandarin speaking.
It could be that this is a response to the Chinese government’s increasing supervision of the online fraud industry.
Over the past year, online fraud targeting US citizens caused losses worth US$ 3.5 billion. Then, targeting Canadians caused losses of US$ 413 million. Furthermore, fraud for Malaysians recorded losses of US$ 750 million.
In the Southeast Asia region, online fraud organizations have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people illegally and placed them in heavily guarded fraud complexes.
There, they were forced to carry out online fraud operations. If they don’t want to, they will be tortured.
“Because they rely heavily on forced labor, these facilities often have the hallmarks of a penitentiary, with high walls and barred windows, closed-circuit television, armed guards, and torture chambers,” the researchers wrote.
The complex dynamics of fraud for these online criminals vary by country. However, researchers note that the level of political corruption in each country causes these online criminal organizations to mushroom more quickly.
In Cambodia, a veteran senator from the ruling party, Ly Yong Phat, owns a casino and hotel complex affiliated with a large-scale online fraud industry.
Meanwhile in Myanmar, the committee allowed government-allied militias along its borders with China and Thailand to carry out large-scale criminal operations.
“Such complexes are often established in partnership with powerful local elites, sometimes in urban centers in countries with weak or highly corrupt governance, sometimes in official special zones or poorly regulated border areas. They take advantage of areas where law enforcement and taxation deliberately limited, thereby creating impunity for law violators,” the researchers wrote.
Recently, the Chinese government has tightened its supervision of the development of the online fraud industry, because many of its citizens are being trafficked illegally to Myanmar.
The growth of these online fraud syndicates has become an international concern. Researchers recommend that world countries unite to impose sanctions in the form of travel bans for online fraud syndicates in their countries.
Apart from that, it is requested that there be punishment for social media such as Telegram which facilitates money laundering practices from online fraud.
“From Thailand to the Philippines, Vietnam to Indonesia, we support government-to-government collaboration on the training and advanced tools needed to detect and investigate these criminal practices,” said Brandon Yoder, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.
Source : CNBC INDONESIA
