Southeast Asia is ‘ground zero’ for a multi-billion-dollar scam industry following the Covid-19 pandemic and the coup d’état in Myanmar. Criminal activity in the region transitioned from drug trafficking and money laundering to human trafficking and cybercrime, reaching a global scale. Regulatory gaps, corruption among local officials and authorities, and poor cooperation have allowed scam networks to grow into a highly lucrative system. Additionally, as new technologies emerge, operations have become more efficient by harnessing tools like AI, deepfakes, and large language models to reach more targets.

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