UN official 'encouraged' by joint efforts against fraud

BANGKOK — The sophisticated and transnational nature of telecom fraud and related crimes requires concerted international efforts to address the challenges facing Southeast Asia, a United Nations official has said, noting that recent cooperation between China and countries in the region has been "encouraging "and has created momentum for further joint efforts.

Benedikt Hofmann, acting regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told Xinhua News Agency in an exclusive interview that telecom fraud has expanded rapidly in terms of the number of victims, geographical reach and financial losses. The office estimates that annual economic losses from such scams in East and Southeast Asia range between $20 billion and $40 billion.

"It has really grown from a regional phenomenon into a threat to people around the world," he said.

The use of sophisticated tactics, including artificial intelligence, combined with the cross-border nature of these crimes, poses mounting challenges for law enforcement agencies in individual countries, Hofmann said.

He explained that criminal groups leverage cyberspace to operate from one country while targeting victims in others, even across continents, making it extremely difficult to identify the criminal networks behind them.

"It's really gotten more and more complex for law enforcement, for criminal justice systems in the region to address these issues," he said.

These challenges make unilateral actions by individual countries insufficient.

"Whether it's information sharing, operational coordination of police responses, or mutual legal assistance and cooperation in criminal matters, it's really key for the countries in the region and beyond to get together and find common responses to this," he said.

Highlighting the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's role in bridging gaps by helping countries strengthen legislation, build enforcement capacities and foster multilateral collaboration, Hofmann noted that recent cooperation between China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Thailand and Myanmar, has created "a significant sense of momentum" for international efforts.

"It's really encouraging to see those efforts. The momentum that has been created at the moment is one that we haven't seen for some time now," he said.

China has provided crucial support to other countries in combating both drug-related crimes and telecom fraud schemes, he said, suggesting that China's approach to tackling telecom fraud, including active prevention measures, could provide invaluable experience for other countries.

"China has been very affected by this problem for quite a long time. And there's a lot that China has to offer from that experience and to other countries that are dealing with this in the region. And in that context, we've seen a lot of operational coordination and a lot of support coming from China to other countries in the region," he added.

While acknowledging increased regional awareness of telecom fraud and its impact, Hofmann said the complexity and evolving nature of these crimes demand stronger collaboration, in which China's role and experience would be essential.

"What we hope to see more of also in the future is the broader effort by countries in the region that looks beyond police responses, beyond sort of the immediate effort of closing down a center, but really look beyond the individual operations and look at how this problem can be addressed on a broader scale," he said.

Xinhua