The Myanmar authorities on February 18 detained 273 foreign nationals from scam compounds along the border with Thailand as part of a crackdown on illegal online activities.

An estimated 220,000 people were estimated to have been tricked into working for romance-investment schemes, crypto fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling in Myanmar and Cambodia in 2023.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto has called for cooperation among ASEAN countries to tackle human trafficking.

Malaysian Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil along with representatives of CyberSecurity Malaysia, CelcomDigi, and Anti-scam Action Coalition (GBAS) on February 18 launched the National Anti-scam Campaign 2023 to counter scam syndicates’ evolving methods.

Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Hamzah Zainudin on March 29 called for cooperation at the regional and national level to effectively combat cybercrime.

Online scams have become more and more common in recent years, causing a great deal of anxiety in society.

Cambodian police said on August 3 they have arrested more than 200 Chinese suspected of running an online scam that persuaded victims to send nude photographs and then extorted them for cash.

Social media users are not being careful enough while Internet fraud gets increasingly sophisticated, the Hanoi Public Security Department has warned.