
-
Pakistan FM to visit China on heels of conflict with India over Kashmir
-
De Bruyne 'probably' won't feature for Man City at Club World Cup
-
Everton beat Southampton in emotional farewell to Goodison
-
PSG success barely covers up French football's woes
-
British climber breaks his own record with 19th Everest summit
-
Cannes film festival: highlights from week 1
-
Pope Leo XIV warns against exploitation at inaugural mass
-
Israel says open to deal that includes 'ending the fighting' in Gaza
-
Ukraine says Russia launched 'record' drone barrage
-
India restricts some imports from Bangladesh through land ports
-
Kenyan politician, lawyer for Tanzania opposition leader arrested
-
First US Pope Leo XIV warns against exploitation at inaugural mass
-
French town breaks smurf number world record
-
Trumpist faces pro-EU mayor in tight Romania presidential rerun
-
Mariners win first A-League Women's title in dramatic grand final
-
Gaza rescuers say children among 33 killed in Israeli strikes
-
Olympic 100m silver medallist Richardson beaten in Tokyo season opener
-
Olympic 100m champion Richardson beaten in Tokyo season opener
-
First US pope Leo XIV takes to popemobile ahead of inaugural mass
-
'Gentle giants': World's strongest men defy stereotypes
-
Iraq's first filmmaker in Cannes says sanctions no piece of cake
-
Brooklyn Bridge ship crash kills two people: NYC mayor
-
Tunisian 'revolution oasis' palm grove thrives on self-rule
-
Paris kidnap bid highlights crypto data security risks
-
Mexican Navy training ship hits New York's Brooklyn Bridge
-
All Black Savea inspires Moana to brink of Super Rugby history
-
High times for German cannabis firm amid medical boom
-
Poland votes in tight election as Europe watches
-
The US towns that took on 'forever chemical' giants -- and won
-
FBI calls deadly California clinic bombing an 'act of terrorism'
-
Noren in hunt for first major win after long injury layoff
-
Austria's JJ wins Eurovision 2025 with opera-techno fusion
-
Scheffler back in groove and on brink of third major title
-
Austria's JJ soars to Eurovision victory with operatic pop
-
DEA Marijuana Hypocrisy Exposed: MMJ Legal Drug Blocked While Cartels Thrive in Marijuana Legal States
-
No.1 Scheffler makes late charge to grab PGA lead
-
Journalism wins 150th Preakness Stakes
-
On a high: Austria's JJ wins Eurovision 2025
-
Nice take Champions League place, Saint-Etienne relegated in French season finale
-
Bomb at fertility clinic in California kills one
-
UK to strike new deal with EU in coming days: PM's office
-
Guardiola urges Man City to use FA Cup pain to fuel top five bid
-
Syria announces commissions for missing persons, transitional justice
-
Scheffler, Rahm and Vegas share lead in PGA shootout
-
Glasner writes new chapter in Palace history with FA Cup win
-
Pro-Palestinian protesters, police clash in Basel during Eurovision
-
Kanye West's pro-Hitler song gets millions of views on X
-
Ogier seizes on Tanak misfortune to take Rally Portugal lead
-
Showtime as Eurovision Song Contest final begins
-
Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win

Asian scam centre crime gangs expanding worldwide: UN
Asian crime networks running multi-billion-dollar cyber scam centres are expanding their operations across the world as they seek new victims and new ways to launder money, the UN said on Monday.
Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs are raking in tens of billions of dollars a year targeting victims through investment, cryptocurrency, romance and other scams -- using an army of workers often trafficked and forced to toil in squalid compounds.
The activity has largely been focused in Myanmar's lawless border areas and dubious "special economic zones" set up in Cambodia and Laos.
But a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned the networks are building up operations in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and some Pacific islands.
"We are seeing a global expansion of East and Southeast Asian organised crime groups," said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC Acting Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
"This reflects both a natural expansion as the industry grows and seeks new ways and places to do business, but also a hedging against future risks should disruption continue and intensify in Southeast Asia."
Countries in east and southeast Asia lost an estimated $37 billion to cyber fraud in 2023, the UNODC report said, adding that "much larger estimated losses" were reported around the world.
The syndicates have expanded in Africa -- notably in Zambia, Angola and Namibia -- as well as Pacific islands such as Fiji, Palau, Tonga and Vanuatu.
- Laundering through crypto -
Besides seeking new bases and new victims, the criminal gangs are broadening their horizons to help launder their illicit income, the report said, pointing to team-ups with "South American drug cartels, the Italian mafia, and Irish mob, among many others".
Illicit cryptocurrency mining -- unregulated and anonymous -- has become a "powerful tool" for the networks to launder money, the report said.
In June 2023 a sophisticated crypto mining operation in a militia-controlled territory in Libya, equipped with high-powered computers and high-voltage cooling units, was raided and 50 Chinese nationals arrested.
The global spread of the syndicates' operations has been driven in part by pressure from authorities in Southeast Asia.
A major crackdown on scam centres in Myanmar this year, pushed by Beijing, led to around 7,000 workers from at least two dozen counrties being freed.
But the UN report warns that while such efforts disrupt the scam gangs' immediate activities, they have shown themselves able to adapt and relocate swiftly.
"It spreads like a cancer," UNODC's Hoffman said.
"Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear, they simply migrate."
Alongside the scam centres, staffed by a workforce estimated by the UN to be in the hundreds of thousands, the industry is further enabled by new technological developments.
Operators have developed their own online ecosystems with payment applications, encrypted messaging platforms and cryptocurrencies, to get round mainstream platforms that might be targeted by law enforcement.
A.Rodriguezv--AMWN