EDITORIAL - Southeast Asian scam centers

After being dubbed as Patient Zero in the global epidemic of fake news and disinformation, the Philippines has earned another dubious distinction: Asian scam center.

A United Nations report released last Monday identified the Philippines together with the border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar as Southeast Asian scam centers that are victimizing people all over the world. The centers are reportedly operated by organized crime rings in East and Southeast Asia.

The report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said the scam compounds of Southeast Asia are earning nearly $40 billion annually through so-called love scams, bogus investment and illegal gambling schemes. The UNODC report is titled “Inflection point: Global implications of scam centers, underground banking and illicit online marketplaces in Southeast Asia.”

Related to the scam operations, the centers are also engaged in money laundering and human trafficking. Filipinos who were duped into working at cyber and cryptocurrency scam hubs in Myanmar and Thailand have also reported being subjected to beatings and torture.

As the Philippines recently learned, scam farms are also being tapped to influence public opinion and voter preferences using fake news and disinformation.

Artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies have allowed the exponential growth of online scam operations.

Both the public and private sectors in the Philippines are moving actively to fight cyberscams and counter information warfare. But the “keyboard warriors” – as described in recent news reports – are tech-savvy and keep finding new ways of carrying out their illegal activities.

If recent reports are true, a significant number of these keyboard warriors are backed by the enormous resources and technological knowhow of the world’s second largest economy.

No country can afford to be complacent. The resources and capabilities of Asia’s scam centers keep growing, and as the UN report pointed out, they have expanded their reach to many other parts of the world. The damage caused by scam farms and the risks they pose to many aspects of life must be confronted decisively.