Tuesday's Threat Intelligence Report

Online scam operations have become a shared and escalating challenge across ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), affecting citizens, financial systems, labour mobility, and regional trust. Despite increased coordination efforts, scam networks continue to expand in scale and sophistication, operating across borders while exploiting uneven enforcement, economic disparities, and jurisdictional limits within the region. As scam networks increasingly leverage technology, capital, and protection arrangements, so should we. Every Tuesday, GASO will release a news round-up, Tuesday's Threat Intelligence Report.

Tuesday's Threat Intelligence

A reporter from the Korea Times visited the Taizi prince group compound in southern Cambodia’s Takeo Province with a joint government response team and was met with eerie silence. Experts warn that this does not signal the end of criminal activity, only a shift in location. The concern now is that Koreans previously held captive may have been moved along with them. Read more and watch the videos on Korea Times.

Starting January 1, sending indecent photos or videos to friends in private chats will be illegal in China. That is when the newly revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law of the People’s Republic of China will officially take effect. Article 80 of the law provides more detailed and explicit provisions on penalties for disseminating obscene information, significantly increasing the severity of punishment for such conduct. Users of WeChat and other Chinese social media platforms will be fined approximately $150 for sending any content deemed "pornographic." This report comes from the Global Initiative. The original source on a Chinese website has since been deleted less than 48 hours after it was posted.

WIRED reports "Chinese Crypto Scammers on Telegram Are Fueling the Biggest Darknet Markets Ever." The story covers the rise of crypto scamming through Telegram channel. Journalist Andy Greenberg interviews Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Asia Center who focuses on transnational crime, who urges more governments and cross-sector groups to prioritize the issue. Read more on Wired.

GASO releases new report, Victims as Economic Input in Scam Operations, by Sy Li, one of our internal experts. This analysis draws on direct case involvement across three jurisdictions against a money-laundering syndicate and work with victims worldwide. Since GASO was founded in 2021, we've worked on more than 11,000 cases in support chat and supported victims with both human trafficking and scams.

Global Anti-Scam Organisation (GASO) has worked on the frontlines of this issue for the past four years. Our teams have operated directly in high-risk zones in Cambodia, supporting victims and forced-labour escapees, documenting scam operations, and observing—at close range—how these systems function in practice. This sustained ground presence has given GASO an operational understanding that informs our ASEAN-wide anti-scam efforts.

This piece was compiled by Julia Lipscomb, a volunteer and contributor to GASO. You can follow more of Julia's reporting in her weekly US-based newsletter, Library of Cons, on building digital resilience. Subscribe on Library of Cons Substack. Do you have any tips for next week's Threat Intelligence Report & News Roundup? Email me.