Scam Inc - Explaining the growth of online fraud from Asia to the world
The Asian Crime Century briefing 106
If you just read one thing this week about Asian organised crime, then it must be The Economist article regarding online scams. The Economist has produced an exceptional set of articles and podcasts that explain what the growing global phenomena of online fraud involves as well as how it developed.
The Economist starts with the Leader article, ~The vast and sophisticated global enterprise that is Scam Inc, which points out that no country better understands the scale and nature of online fraud as well as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as it is the home of huge numbers of the victims in the past few years.
The main article, Online scams may already be as big a scourge as illegal drugs, explains the background to the project to research online fraud (at least a year of work) and explains how online fraud compounds that originated in Asia are spreading around the world as criminal groups copy the mode of operation and start this business line. Because of this expansion, the problem will worsen before it gets better.
The main part of The Economist project is an eight part podcast, Scam Inc, produced by Ms. Suelin Wong who eloquently jumps from the US to Asia and from victims to culprits to tell the story of where the epidemic of online fraud came from and how it is now impacting countries around the world. As Ms. Wong points out, online fraud already involves losses that are as much as or more than narcotics trafficking, making this the main business line for some transnational organised crime groups.
If you read only one thing this week, it should be Scam Inc in The Economist.