Criminal syndicates in Asia are harnessing crypto and AI for money laundering and fraud

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued a new report documenting how criminal syndicates in Southeast Asia are increasingly deploying digital assets and generative artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out more sophisticated crimes. Across the region, criminals are disguising their illicit activities using crypto, ultimately making it harder to “detect fraud, money laundering, underground banking, and online scams,” the report said.

Last year, the volume of money lost to these organized groups ran up to $37 billion, according to the UNODC.