Scam losses across Asia estimated at US$136.5b in past year; experts warn of growing AI threat

Asia

The Global Anti-Scam Alliance warned that governments and companies cannot tackle the growing threat alone, as criminal syndicates exploit cross-border operations and increasingly advanced technology to evade detection.

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14 Nov 2026 06:12PM

BANGKOK: Scammers are increasingly using artificial intelligence to automate fraud and target victims on a massive scale, prompting calls for stronger international cooperation as estimated losses from scams across Asia reach US$136.5 billion over the past year. 

The Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) warned that governments and technology companies cannot tackle the growing threat alone, as criminal syndicates exploit cross-border operations and increasingly sophisticated technology to evade detection. 

“Countries cannot fight this alone. Big tech companies cannot fight this alone. Scammers always work across borders (so) their chances of getting caught are near zero,” said the alliance’s managing director Jorij Abraham. 

“Law enforcement … Interpol and Europol, while they're doing great work, are limited.” 

Abraham also cautioned that crackdowns on large scam compounds in countries such as Cambodia have dispersed criminal operations rather than eliminated them. 

He said scam operations have since emerged in the Middle East, Mexico and Eastern Europe, with syndicates increasingly operating in smaller groups out of hotels and rented properties instead of large compounds.

This makes them harder to detect and dismantle, he added.

His warning comes after a GASA report released last month found that 71 per cent of adults surveyed across 13 Asian markets had encountered a scam in the past 12 months. 

Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the non-profit brings together public and private sector stakeholders to combat scams and fraud. 

The study, conducted in collaboration with scam prevention technology company Gogolook, surveyed 17,460 adults across markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, China and India. 

The research found that while 66 per cent of respondents were confident they could recognise scams, 62 per cent of those who encountered one went on to interact with it. Of those who interacted with a scam, 26 per cent lost money. 

AI MAKING SCAMS HARDER TO DETECT 

Speaking to CNA on Tuesday (Nov 10) on the sidelines of GASA’s regional summit in Bangkok, Abraham warned that rapid advances in AI are making fraudulent messages increasingly convincing, while allowing criminals to target potential victims on an unprecedented scale. 

He cited research showing that AI-generated phishing emails and text messages are about five times more effective than those written by scammers themselves. 

More concerning, he said, is the growing use of AI to automate the entire scam process, from identifying potential victims and sending personalised messages to conducting conversations and directing targets to fraudulent websites. 

“The entire process is … completely automated, and that means the scam is not only unrecognisable, but also personalised on a massive scale,” he said. 

Abraham added that such developments mean public education and awareness campaigns, while important, are no longer sufficient to protect people from falling victim. 

“I’m a big fan of education and it remains essential, but you cannot expect normal people to recognise scams,” he said. 

“Scammers are getting too good. (They’re) using AI to make (scams) indistinguishable from the real thing. We need to protect people on an infrastructural level way more.” 

PHONE CALLS MOST COMMON SCAM CHANNEL 

Despite the growing sophistication of online fraud, traditional phone calls remain the most common method used by scammers to reach potential victims across Asia. 

According to the report, 56 per cent of respondents encountered scams through phone calls, followed by text messages at 50 per cent and instant messaging applications at 40 per cent. Shopping, investment and employment scams were the most common.  

But even phone scams are evolving, said Gogolook co-founder and CEO Jeff Kuo. 

He warned that AI-generated voices are making phone scams increasingly sophisticated, allowing criminals to impersonate company executives or even family members.

He said Gogolook is using machine learning to identify suspicious calling patterns, helping it detect potential scam numbers even as criminals frequently change them.

“As scammers use AI-generated voices and increasingly convincing scripts, identifying suspicious numbers and warning users before they engage is becoming even more important,” he said. 

The GASA report also highlighted the challenges of preventing repeat victimisation, finding that 51 per cent of respondents who lost money had been scammed more than once. 

While AI could help authorities and technology companies identify and monitor suspicious activity more efficiently, Abraham cautioned that criminals can adopt emerging technologies without facing the same legal and regulatory constraints as legitimate organisations. 

“Scammers are not limited by law or licenses. They use whatever they can get. So (while) we can use AI for good to identify scams, to automate monitoring, it (alone) will not solve the problem,” he said. 

TECH FIRMS URGED TO PRIORITISE TRUST OVER TRAFFIC 

Technology firms say they are strengthening safeguards against online fraud. 

Meta's security policy manager Rima Amin said the social media giant is stepping up efforts to detect and disrupt scam networks, including through greater cooperation with law enforcement agencies. 

“(When) we take down a network, we look at the tactics the scammers were using that our proactive detection didn't catch. Then our teams take those learnings and build them back into the products, so that we can defend and prevent in the future,” she told CNA during the summit. 

She pointed to a recent operation in which Meta removed 150,000 accounts while Thai police arrested 21 people suspected of involvement in scams. 

But she acknowledged that efforts by individual firms are insufficient, noting that fraudulent websites could remain active long after being blocked on social media platforms. 

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, found that websites on its scam blocklist continued to exist for an average of three years, allowing them to circulate elsewhere. 

“We're sharing (our) blocklist … so other platforms can take that intelligence and protect themselves. This isn't a (problem) that any platform or institution should think about in isolation. We need to protect people across the entire ecosystem,” said Amin. 

She also stressed the importance of intervening early, before potential victims become convinced that a fraudulent investment or relationship is genuine.

She said Meta uses what it calls “just-in-time warnings” to alert users to suspicious interactions before scams reach the stage of financial transactions, when victims may be harder to dissuade.

Gogolook's Kuo said technology companies must do more to combat scams, warning that digital platforms often prioritise attracting users over strengthening safety measures. 

“The everyday platforms we are using … their biggest motivation is to increase traffic instead of building more trust mechanisms,” he said, adding there is a need for stronger cooperation among digital platforms and greater investment in systems designed to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. 

Kuo warned that technology firms could ultimately lose users if people became unable to distinguish genuine content from fraudulent material. 

“Traffic can build a platform, but only trust can keep it," he said.

Source: CNA/dn(mp)