UN Report: Scam Losses in East and SE Asia Reach Up to $114 Billion in 2025, Crypto Role Highlighted
A UN Office on Drugs and Crime report estimates scam losses in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand at $88.3–114.1 billion for 2025, with China, South Korea, and Taiwan recording the highest official losses. The report highlights the restructuring of regional criminal economies into cross-border networks and the growing role of cryptocurrencies in laundering proceeds.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has released a report calculating that scam operations in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand caused losses of between $88.3 billion and $114.1 billion in 2025.
Among countries and territories with the highest officially recorded losses in the latest reporting period, the report cites China ($5.1 billion), South Korea ($3.5 billion), and Taiwan ($2.8 billion). The agency describes the situation as a restructuring of the regional criminal economy, where fragmented syndicates have evolved into a transnational network sharing infrastructure for fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, illegal migrant smuggling, data harvesting, and other criminal services.
The report separately notes the role of cryptocurrencies in settlements and money laundering related to these operations.
Source: ForkLog