PHNOM PENH, Feb 24 — The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) vowed to eliminate online scam centres in Southeast Asia that have mushroomed into an industrial-scale operation to steal billions of dollars from innocent victims.
Its International Operations Division's deputy assistant director Scott Schelble said organised crime syndicates running large-scale scam operations in the region are targeting Americans every day.
“The FBI will continue to pursue aggressively wherever they operate, and we will do so in close partnership with trusted international allies.
“You should not believe that borders will protect them if they target Americans. We know where you are, and we are coming for you,” he told the media during a webinar on Tuesday.
Schelble described the magnitude of the crime as “astounding”, and revealed that the American Internet Crime Complaint Centre received over 80,000 complaints with monetary losses exceeding US$2.9 billion (RM11 billion) last year.
Online fraud has become widespread in the region, with international syndicates transforming Cambodia and Myanmar into major epicentres for their criminal activities.
Money laundering, corruption, and human trafficking have become synonymous with transnational crime, which is threatening regional security.
He recently toured Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam to meet with senior law enforcement partners and witnessed the scale of the threat posed by transnational fraud networks operating in the region.
“Cross-border coordination between neighbouring countries is extraordinarily important when targeting organised crime problems.
“Scam compounds are not unique to Thailand. They are not unique to Cambodia. Not unique to Vietnam or Malaysia. These are regional problems. And these criminal groups are not bound by laws or geographical borders,” Schelble said.
In Myanmar, the military government has started to crack down heavily on online scams and illegal gambling centres since last year.
Today, state news outlet The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that over 14,000 foreigners involved in cybercrime were deported since January.
Cambodia reported it has sent back over 50,000 suspects allegedly involved in the scourge in recent months as it dismantled cybercrime hubs. Its citizens lost more than US$45 million (RM175 million) to local online scams last year, according to the Interior Ministry.
The FBI is working with the Royal Thai Police and the Cambodian National Police to cripple the criminal networks.
“The FBI is committed to pursuing these syndicates aggressively wherever they operate. But it is not a crime problem that the FBI can solve alone.
“And I am really grateful that we do not have to. Our partnerships in Southeast Asia are strong and unmatched,” he said.
