UNODC Report Reveals Criminal Gangs in Asia Getting Big Assist From AI, Crypto, and More
Criminals, assemble!
That appears to be happening in Asia right now, with organised crime syndicates consolidating their groups and expanding operations with the help of—surprise, surprise—technology.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report, “Transnational Organized Crime and the Convergence of Cyber-Enabled Fraud, Underground Banking, and Technological Innovation: A Shifting Threat Landscape,” crime syndicates in Asia are now using technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and messaging apps such as Telegram to consolidate operations, establish new underground markets, and make money laundering easier, but harder to detect.
In other words, criminal groups are using technology to become more organised, more prolific, and more powerful.
“Organised crime groups are converging and exploiting vulnerabilities, and the evolving situation is rapidly outpacing governments’ capacity to contain it,” said Masood Karimipour, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. “Leveraging technological advances, criminal groups are producing larger scale and harder to detect fraud, money laundering, underground banking, and online scams. This has led to the creation of a criminal service economy, and the region has now emerged as a key testing ground for transnational criminal networks looking to expand their influence and diversify into new business lines.”
Criminals Are Scamming Their Way to Deeper Pockets with the Help of AI
One particularly lucrative business line has been online scams, with the UNODC report noting how criminal syndicates are luring unsuspecting jobseekers into forced criminality where they are asked to scam victims in illegal but often legitimate-looking scam compounds. These scams, according to UNODC estimates, result in financial losses between USD $18 billion and USD $37 billion in 2023 from victims in East and Southeast Asia. (The Hong Kong case, when a financial employee was tricked into transferring USD $262,000 to a cybercriminal’s account, comes to mind here.)
The biggest beneficiaries, it appears, are crime syndicates in Southeast Asia, who are scamming their way to unimaginable wealth using AI-driven deepfakes, which are allowing criminals to level up their devious schemes “both in terms of sophistication as well as scale,” according to Frederic Ho, Vice President of Asia Pacific at Jumio Corporation, in a previous interview with Cybersecurity Asia.
Emerging as a disruptor in the world of crime, in particular, is generative AI, enabling criminals to create hyperrealistic deepfakes and lowering the barrier to entry into the world of high-tech crime.
“The integration of generative artificial intelligence by transnational criminal groups involved in cyber-enabled fraud is a complex and alarming trend observed in Southeast Asia and one that represents a powerful force multiplier for criminal activities,” said John Wojcik, Regional Analyst at UNODC. “These developments have not only expanded the scope and efficiency of cyber-enabled fraud and cybercrime; they have also lowered the barriers to entry for criminal networks that previously lacked the technical skills to exploit more sophisticated and profitable methods.”
UNODC’s latest findings back up Ho’s assessment, reporting that from 2022 to 2023, deepfake-related crimes in Asia Pacific increased over 1,500 per cent, while deepfake-related advertisements on messaging platforms such as Telegram rose 600 per cent between February and July 2024 alone.
Telegram Is Emerging as the Platform of Communication for Syndicates
Incidentally, Telegram has seemingly become the preferred messaging platform of crime syndicates with its diverse channels and seeming lack of moderation that makes it easy for criminals to communicate and operate—with little fear of getting caught or facing sanctions. This largely unmoderated environment is under scrutiny in France, where Telegram Co-Founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested for his potential liability in Telegram being used for drug trafficking, distribution of child sexual abuse material, cyberbullying, and yes, organised crime.
Alarmingly, the UNODC does not anticipate this trend of high-tech crime to slow down; instead, it is predicted not only to persist but also to worsen, with Southeast Asian cybercriminal networks, in particular, expanding their reach and enhancing the efficiency of their operations using available technologies. All signs also point towards a shift to highly coordinated and automated criminal activities, with criminals adopting business-like strategies to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and maximise profits.
Are Tech-Savvy Criminals Winning?
That is all bad news for legitimate businesses and the common people, who are the target victims of these high-tech, highly coordinated groups. This unfortunate development, which is proof of the adage that tech is a double-edged sword, is thus putting immense pressure on governments and businesses alike, who will need to keep abreast with the increasingly sophisticated modus operandi of global and regional syndicates.
But it is a challenge unlike no other, and overcoming it will require better cybersecurity infrastructure, increased international cooperation, and enhanced public awareness, among others. Unfortunately, it appears new-age criminals are starting to gain the upper hand, figuring out how to use technology to aid them in their dastardly deeds.
Indeed, today’s criminals have assembled—and they are using tech as their fulcrum.
The “good guys” will need to fight back. And tech might just be their ace as well.
