The Bangkok Post ran an op-ed by RSO Co-Managers Fuad Adriansyah (Indonesia) and David Scott (Australia) on Tuesday, 19 December, titled: “Uniting Against Cyber-Scam Gangs.”
The op-ed sheds light on the alarming rise of cyber-scam centres across Southeast Asia, operated by transnational organised criminal groups. These centres exploit emerging technologies, causing human exploitation, financial harm, and a weakening of the rule of law. The op-ed emphasizes the importance of regional cooperation, public-private partnerships, and multi-stakeholder efforts to counter this complex challenge.
The op-ed was published following A Technical Workshop on Investigating and Prosecuting Trafficking in Persons Syndicates Involved in Cyber Scam Centre Operations Across Southeast Asia over 10-11 October in Bali, Indonesia jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and the RSO. The two-day workshop brought together 60 stakeholders from across Southeast Asia, including law enforcement officials, prosecutors, social media, private sector representatives, and financial crime specialists. Support from the RSO to coordinate this workshop was directly requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
By convening a multi-stakeholder dialogue, the workshop aimed to foster collaboration among governments, private sector partners, and international organisations, creating opportunities to enhance responses to cyber-scams and related transnational crimes.
You can read the full op-ed here.
Key activities held during the workshop aimed to:
- Strengthen public-private partnerships: Bringing together representatives from social media platforms, job search websites, and financial institutions to enhance content moderation and disrupt trafficking recruitment efforts.
- Enhance financial investigations: Addressing illicit financial flows by enhancing collaboration opportunities with major banks, FinTech companies, and cryptocurrency experts to trace and seize funds linked to cyber-scam operations.
- Improve victim support : Discussions included the importance of increasing access to shelters, victim identification mechanisms, and returns and reintegration support for trafficking survivors, ensuring a coordinated response across borders.
- Engaging with regional platforms: Delegates learned more about efforts being led across regional platforms including the Bali Process, and the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) to foster dialogue and cooperation.
