APA-Obs

China-linked scam operations pivot to Africa, presenting new challenges for at-risk countries

...In April, the Chinese Embassy in Madagascar issued a public statement warning people about the risk of being tricked into forced labour in online scam operations in the country. The announcement followed a Chinese national’s dramatic escape from a scam compound in Antananarivo, where he had allegedly been lured by a recruiter in Cambodia. This c...

Posted on 19 May 2026

Author(s): Jason G Tower

Global Initiative

A world of deceit: Mapping the landscape of the global scam centre phenomenon

A world of deceit

...scams and fraud have undergone a profound evolution in recent decades, becoming one of the most sophisticated, pervasive and lucrative forms of organized crime globally. According to the Global Anti-Sc...

Posted on 16 Mar 2026

Author(s): Kristina Amerhauser, Alex Goodwin

APA-Obs

Will Chen Zhi’s arrest and extradition be a wake-up call for scam bosses in the Mekong?

... tycoon, was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China. Chen Zhi, accused of masterminding a huge ‘cyber-fraud empire’, was charged by the US Department of Justice in 2025 with operating cyber scam compounds in Cambodia that defrauded victims all over the world of billions of dollars. The UK and US also sanctioned his businesses operating as part of the Prince Group, one of Cambodia’s largest...

Posted on 29 Jan 2026

Author(s): Jason G Tower, Kristina Amerhauser

APA-Obs

Minimizing risks of criminal exposure to scam compounds in corporate supply chains

Minimizing risks of criminal exposure to scam compounds in corporate supply chains

...Highly organized cyber fraud in South East Asia is widely run from so-called scam compounds: purpose-built or modified buildings that meet the precise operational requirements of this criminal industry. These compounds provide the infrastructure for online scams, fraud and other f...

Posted on 13 Jan 2026

Author(s): Lindsey Kennedy, Nathan Paul Southern

APA-Obs

Designating cyber scam networks helps protect those exposing them against legal challenges

...the US government charged Chen Zhi, founder of the Cambodia-based multinational business conglomerate Prince Group, for allegedly masterminding a vast criminal empire involving the operation of cyber scam compounds, where victims are forced to conduct online scams. As part of a joint operation involving the seizure of more than US$14 billion in bitcoin and 19 properties in London, the US and the UK al...

Posted on 28 Oct 2025

Author(s): Lindsey Kennedy, Nathan Paul Southern

APA-Obs

China’s acquiescence to Myanmar’s military regime fuels ‘foreigner butchering’ scam epidemic

...er, it avoided any mention of the critical role that Bai Suocheng played in the Myanmar military, the key role of Chinese officials in enabling his rise to power or the extent to which Myanmar’s ‘scamdemic’ has evolved since Bai’s fall. Rewinding a couple of years, in 2023, the Chinese authorities had put maximum pressure on Myanmar’s senior general Min Aung Hlaing’s military regime to ...

Posted on 10 Oct 2025

Author(s): Jason G Tower

APA-Obs

Scam empire strikes back: Crackdowns on Myanmar’s scam industry have had little material impact

...The Wang Xing incident – where a  Chinese influencer was trafficked into and held hostage in multiple scam compounds on the Myanmar–Thailand border in early 2025 – attracted widespread attention in China, Thailand and beyond. Chinese crime groups operating out of Myanmar managed to infiltrate Wang Xin...

Posted on 27 Aug 2025

Author(s): Jason G Tower

APA-Obs

The business of exploitation: The economics of cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia

The business of exploitation:

...Cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia are part of a vast and evolving illicit industry that relies on trafficking, financial fraud, corruption and professional money laundering networks. This policy brief map...

Posted on 19 Aug 2025

Author(s): Kristina Amerhauser, Audrey Thill

APA-Obs

Flying under the radar: How airports and airlines could be vital partners in combating the cyber scam industry

...The growth of cyber scam centres around the world is fuelling a global human trafficking crisis on a scale and organizational complexity rarely seen since the height of the transatlantic slave trade. In just a few years, hun...

Posted on 12 Jun 2025

Author(s): Lindsey Kennedy, Nathan Paul Southern

APA-Obs

Compound crime: Cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia

Compound crime

...Cyber scam operations have surged across Southeast Asia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, evolving into a transnational organized crime crisis of staggering proportions. In this report, we expose the in...

Posted on 29 May 2025

Global Initiative

Joint US–India focus on cyber scams is a chance to curb a global fraud epidemic

...compass a number of priorities, it should include a focus on online fraud and how generative AI can serve criminal interests. Now is the time for India and the United States, both exploited by online scammers, to show global leadership in jointly tackling this growing threat. A global rise in cyber scams India has long been at the centre of discussions about scams and online fraud. The country e...

Posted on 21 Apr 2025

Author(s): Jack Meegan-Vickers, Kristina Amerhauser