Global Scam Industry Evolving at 'Unprecedented Scale' Despite Recent Crackdown (cnn.com)
(Wednesday April 02, 2025 @05:41PM (msmash)
from the PSA dept.)
- Reference: 0176906083
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/04/02/204208/global-scam-industry-evolving-at-unprecedented-scale-despite-recent-crackdown
- Source link: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/02/asia/myanmar-scam-center-crackdown-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
Online scam operations across Southeast Asia are [1]rapidly adapting to recent crackdowns, adopting AI and expanding globally despite the release of 7,000 trafficking victims from compounds along the Myanmar-Thailand border, experts say. These releases represent just a fraction of an estimated 100,000 people trapped in facilities run by criminal syndicates that rake in billions through investment schemes and romance scams targeting victims worldwide, CNN reports.
"Billions of dollars are being invested in these kinds of businesses," said Kannavee Suebsang, a Thai lawmaker leading efforts to free those held in scam centers. "They will not stop." Crime groups are exploiting AI to write scamming scripts and using deepfakes to create personas, while networks have expanded to Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific region, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. "This is a situation the region has never faced before," said John Wojcik, a UN organized crime analyst. "The evolving situation is trending towards something far more dangerous than scams alone."
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/02/asia/myanmar-scam-center-crackdown-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
"Billions of dollars are being invested in these kinds of businesses," said Kannavee Suebsang, a Thai lawmaker leading efforts to free those held in scam centers. "They will not stop." Crime groups are exploiting AI to write scamming scripts and using deepfakes to create personas, while networks have expanded to Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific region, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. "This is a situation the region has never faced before," said John Wojcik, a UN organized crime analyst. "The evolving situation is trending towards something far more dangerous than scams alone."
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/02/asia/myanmar-scam-center-crackdown-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
Trust, or lack thereof (Score:1)
by davidwr ( 791652 )
It's getting to the point where people and businesses are going to want to do large financial transactions in person, or at least have a "human chain of trust" to verify that everyone is who they say they are.
I for one wouldn't mind having to visit a notary before my non-local financial institution would let me withdraw/transfer-out more than a certain amount in a certain period of time.
Solution (Score:3)
I know the solution: block all incoming calls and web traffic from India, and redirect them into a boomer American simulator with voice and text.
Re: (Score:2)
Finally, a use case for AI.
The AI hallucinations can be explained by dementia
Re: (Score:2)
Well, I commend you for trying to think of a solution, but you must be new around here. Slashdot and solution don't fit on the same website.
Also your suggested solution approach is worthless on (at least) two levels. One is that relatively few of the scams originate or are based in India, but the larger one is the technical countermeasure of VPN gateways.
The local police are trying to solve the problem with warning brochures that read more like "how to" manuals for the criminals. Not only helping the crooks