Southeast Asia: UN report analyses evolution of scam centres, underground banking & illicit online marketplaces, incl. links with businesses; incl. cos. non-responses
In April 2025, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report analysing the global implications of scam centres, underground banking and illicit online marketplaces in Southeast Asia.
The report says transnational organised crime is evolving in Southeast Asia and spilling over into other jurisdictions worldwide, including through the growth of cyber-enabled fraud and scam centres driven by “interconnected networks” of money launderers, traffickers, data brokers and other service providers.
Failure to address this self-sustaining ecosystem will have unprecedented consequences for Southeast Asia that reverberate globally, as Asian crime syndicates continue to reinvest, professionalize, and integrate advanced technologies and capabilities allowing them to evolve into becoming more sophisticated cyber threat actors.UNODC, "Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia"
The report highlights links between transnational criminal enterprises and businesses, including casinos, special economic zones, business parks, and “traditional financial and virtual asset services”, used as regulatory, legal and fiscal covers.
The report references Cambodian company Huione Guarentee (now Haowang, an "extension" of Huione Group). It says the platform is used by illicit actors sourcing technology, infrastructure, data and other resources needed for cyber-enabled fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion. The New York Times also described Huione Group’s alleged provision of money laundering services and links to other illicit actions in a March 2025 article. The company did not respond the journalists’ request for comment, but it has denied its relationship with Huione Group.
The UNODC report also references the use of Telegram by organized crime networks for a “range of illicit activity”, including cyber-enabled fraud, money-laundering and human trafficking. It says the platform’s design and encryption make it “convenient and scalable for illicit actors in Southeast Asia compared to the dark web”.
The report also says cyber-enabled fraud operations have shifted from using land-based internet to Starlink, as internet wires have been severed and communication towers dismantled in crack down efforts on the industry. In a separate article, Stimson alleges that Starlink’s technology is being used by cybercriminals and says Starlink has the capacity to prevent the misuse of its technology.
In May, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Starlink and Telegram to respond to the reporting. The companies did not respond.
The UNODC report also includes reference to the now collapsed Suncity Group, Imperial Pacific International, Sun Valley Clark Hub, Zun Yuan Technology and Hong Sheng Technology; and it also mentions Hengsheng Junket (subject to a lawsuit). It also includes reference to the raids of two UK companies (Ableton Prestige Global and Amiga Entertainment) with links to The Prince Group, linked to alleged money laundering; NEXT.Io journalists reached out to both firms for comment, and The Prince Group denied any connection to the firms.