Victims across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand lost at least three times more than in 2023, a UN report says

Online scam losses in Asia triple to US$114 billion in 2025: UN

Reliability 57 · moderateLIVE5 min agoJuly 21, 2026

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Summary

Losses from online scams in Asia have tripled to an estimated US$114.1 billion in 2025, according to a United Nations report released Tuesday. The figure covers victims in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, marking a sharp increase from 2023 levels.

The report highlights the rapid expansion of cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia, where organized criminal groups initially focused on Chinese-speaking targets but have since broadened their reach globally. The UN noted that these groups are evolving from fragmented local syndicates into a more integrated, transnational, and technologically sophisticated criminal economy.

Factual coreconfirmed by several independent voices

BANGKOK: Victims of transnational online scams in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand lost up to US$114.1 billion last year, a UN report said Tuesday, with estimated losses at least tripling from 2023
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The cyber scam industry has ballooned in Southeast Asia in recent years, with organised criminal groups initially mostly targeting Chinese speakers before widening their reach and targeting victims globally.
according to The Straits Times - Asia
Organised criminals are “moving away from a fragmented system of locally rooted criminal syndicates toward an increasingly integrated, transnational, and technologically sophisticated criminal economy”, it said.
according to The Straits Times - Asia