According to the UN, Southeast Asian criminal groups are running amok on Telegram

Between 2022 and 2023, crimes related to deepfakes in Asia Pacific increased by a staggering 1,530 percent.

Criminal syndicates in Southeast Asia are using the popular online platform Telegram as a “key venue” to socialize and conduct business, according to a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Organized cybercrime in Southeast Asia is growing faster than ever and becoming a criminal economy of its own, the report released yesterday (October 7) said, adding that criminal groups are proliferating on Telegram forums and carrying out illegal activities in an open and poorly moderated manner carry out activities.

It was also noted that the platform has become an important tool for underground cryptocurrency exchanges and online gambling rings.

The UNODC report represents the latest allegations against Telegram, whose CEO Pavel Durov was recently arrested by the French government, which accused him of failing to take steps to stop criminal activity on the messaging app.

However, Telegram declined, saying its CEO had “nothing to hide.”

“It is absurd to suggest that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform,” the company said in a statement.

However, UNODC found thousands of underground marketplaces and channels in Telegram attributed to Asian organized crime networks. It also added that several influential regional criminal networks are conducting activities on the platform.

Cybercrime has resulted in significant and worrying losses for its victims – the UNODC estimated that victims in East and Southeast Asia suffered a financial loss of between US$18 billion and US$37 billion at the hands of cybercriminals last year alone.

“Organized criminal groups are converging and exploiting vulnerabilities, and the evolving situation is quickly exceeding the capacity of governments to contain them,” said Masood Karimipour, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

The report also highlighted how criminals are exploiting technological advances such as artificial intelligence and deepfakes and offering criminal “services” including identity theft, biometric identification, data breaches and even the creation of AI-powered sextortion and deepfake pornography.

Some criminal vendors are also dedicated to developing malicious software, including fraudulent investment apps, scam kits, data theft, hacking, and deepfake software development.

The report found that the number of deepfake-related crimes in the region increased by a staggering 1,530 percent between 2022 and 2023, and that between February and July 2024, the number of deepfake keywords mentioned in Telegram forums in Southeast Asia increased significantly has increased.

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