SEPTEMBER 16 — The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has issued a stark warning: online scam syndicates that once concentrated in well-known South-east Asian hubs are now shifting eastward, with Timor-Leste emerging as a new frontier.
Unless Asean recognises and responds to this development, the region risks underestimating a cross-border menace that undermines governance, weakens trust, and diminishes human dignity.
The Oecusse enclave in Timor-Leste — geographically within Indonesia but administered by Dili — demonstrates how quickly new hotspots can emerge.
A raid in August revealed large-scale scam operations concealed under the guise of foreign investment projects, including illegal gambling, romance fraud and fabricated long-term investment schemes.
Authorities seized SIM cards, Starlink satellite equipment, and evidence linking the network to the notorious 14K Triad. More than 90 foreign nationals from Indonesia, Malaysia and China were arrested. Some of those detained possessed advanced technical expertise, while others appeared to have been trafficked.
Their presence highlights the increasingly transnational character of these syndicates, which now move people, money and equipment across borders with alarming ease, often blurring the line between complicit actors and victims of coercion.
These operations should not be seen as isolated criminal enterprises but as complex networks that exploit the loopholes created by globalisation.
They thrive in special economic zones and shell companies that were initially established to attract investment but now provide convenient cover for illicit activities.
They exploit citizenship-by-investment schemes, multiple passports and offshore financial structures to evade oversight.
Most disturbingly, they rely on human trafficking, luring workers with promises of legitimate employment before coercing them into scam compounds.
What begins as financial fraud therefore evolves into a wider assault on social trust, workers’ rights and the credibility of state institutions.
The implications for Asean are profound. Left unchecked, such practices will not only drain billions from the regional economy but also erode the legitimacy of governments already struggling to build resilient governance systems.
The erosion of public trust in financial institutions, coupled with reputational damage to states unable to control criminal syndicates, risks spilling over into broader concerns about Asean’s credibility as a rules-based community.
Addressing this challenge requires more than isolated national efforts.
Criminal networks thrive precisely because they operate across jurisdictions where enforcement and legal definitions often diverge.
Stronger cross-border cooperation is essential. Malaysia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines and other states must develop intelligence-sharing mechanisms, harmonise legal frameworks on fraud and human trafficking, and coordinate enforcement operations to prevent syndicates from exploiting legal grey zones.
Equally important is the tightening of oversight in special economic zones. Designed to attract foreign capital, these zones have too often become havens for illicit activity due to weak monitoring and opaque governance structures.
Regular audits, greater transparency and clear accountability mechanisms are needed to ensure that incentives for investment do not become loopholes for organised crime.
Financial safeguards also demand urgent attention. Syndicates have become adept at manipulating multiple passports, citizenship-for-investment schemes and opaque financial flows.
Stricter due diligence on investors, enhanced monitoring of suspicious financial transactions and greater regional cooperation on beneficial ownership data are crucial to reducing the avenues through which criminals conceal their activities.
Yet enforcement alone is insufficient. Many of those found working in scam centres are themselves victims of trafficking.
They are recruited under false pretences, stripped of their documents and coerced into illegal operations.
Asean governments must therefore strengthen victim protection systems, creating safe reporting channels and reintegration programmes that address the social and economic vulnerabilities that make individuals susceptible to exploitation in the first place.
Public awareness campaigns also play a vital role. Romance scams, fraudulent investment opportunities and fake job offers succeed because individuals are not equipped to recognise the warning signs.
Building societal resilience requires coordinated education efforts that empower citizens to resist manipulation and reduce the pool of potential victims.
Timor-Leste’s experience should not be dismissed as an isolated case. It is an early warning of how criminal syndicates adapt, relocating to less regulated jurisdictions where governance gaps remain wide.
By the time states recognise the problem, the networks are already deeply entrenched. The lesson is clear: prevention and early action are far less costly than the long-term damage caused by entrenched criminal economies.
Asean has previously demonstrated its capacity for regional cooperation, whether in trade integration, disaster response or counterterrorism.
It must now treat transnational online fraud and trafficking with the same urgency. Failure to do so will leave ordinary citizens — the defrauded, the trafficked and the silenced — to bear the heaviest costs.
If Asean is to remain credible as a community committed to security and human dignity, it cannot afford complacency. The time to act is not in the distant future but now.
* Phar Kim Beng, PhD is the Professor of Asean Studies at International Islamic University of Malaysia and Director of Institute of International and Asean Studies (IINTAS).
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
