UNODC report reveals Asian crime syndicates use advanced technology to expand global criminal networks – JURIST

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report on Monday showing that Asian crime syndicates have increasingly integrated service-based business models and advanced technologies – including malware, generative artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes – into their operations alongside establishing new underground markets and cryptocurrency solutions for money laundering.

The report, titled “Transnational Organized Crime and the Convergence of Cyber-Enabled Fraud, Underground Banking, and Technological Innovation:A Shifting Threat Landscape,” is the second part of a series of ongoing UNODC threat assessments. It highlights how organized crime groups are evolving their tactics in response to technological advances and regulatory gaps.

According to UNODC, the report highlights the growing trend of organized crime groups using under-regulated online gambling platforms and high-risk Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to facilitate the movement, money laundering and integration of billions in criminal proceeds into the financial system without accountability. The findings highlight that illegal online casino operators have diversified their business models to include cyber fraud and cryptocurrency-based money laundering services. In particular, there is clear evidence of the influence of organized crime in casino complexes, special economic zones and border areas.

Masood Karimipour, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, warned that “organized criminal groups are merging and exploiting vulnerabilities, and the evolving situation is rapidly exceeding the capacity of governments to contain it.” He also explained: “Criminal groups are taking advantage of technological advances and producing fraud, money laundering, underground banking and online fraud on a larger scale and more difficult to detect.” This has led to the emergence of a criminal service economy and the region has now become an important testing ground developed for transnational criminal networks that want to expand their influence and diversify into new business areas.”

Additionally, the report discusses the disturbing practice of human trafficking for coercive crime, in which organized crime groups routinely coerce thousands of individuals to commit fraud on illegal properties, often through misleading job advertisements. UNODC estimates that financial losses from fraud against victims in East and Southeast Asia will amount to $18 billion to $37 billion in 2023, with a significant portion attributable to the activities of organized crime groups. Additionally, there has been a significant increase in AI-driven crimes, particularly those related to deepfakes, with a 600% increase in deepfake-related content related to criminal activity in Southeast Asia in the first half of 2024.

““The integration of generative artificial intelligence by transnational criminal groups involved in cyber fraud is a complex and alarming trend observed in Southeast Asia and represents a powerful force multiplier for criminal activity,” said John Wojcik, UNODC regional analyst. “These developments have not only expanded the scope and efficiency of cyber fraud and cybercrime; They have also lowered the barriers to entry for criminal networks that previously lacked the technical skills to employ more sophisticated and profitable methods.”

The UNODC urges governments to prioritize tackling the growing criminal ecosystem driven by technological innovations. Building on the ASEAN Roadmap for Regional Cooperation, the report offers recommendations to improve government responses to transnational organized crime through improved legislation, policies and enforcement.