The Times | Trafficked by a Chinese crime gang, Mustapha Momoh was held in southeast Asia — one of 375,000 similar people forced to con westerners out of their life savings.

Forbes | What to watch out for to avoid being lured into scams. The key: Don’t respond or send money to random people who contact you online, no matter how good their story.

American Banker | Unlike fraud schemes where criminals gain unauthorized access to funds, scams often involve victims being manipulated into willingly initiating transactions themselves.

BioCatch | AARP, Amazon, Google, and Walmart have launched the National Elder Fraud Coordination Center (NEFCC) nonprofit to help protect older adults.

Channel News Asia | While Starlink could deliver better internet to remote and disaster-hit communities, experts say it poses challenges for regional governments, experts say.

VARINDIA | India and Thailand held talks to address growing concerns around cross-border cybercrime, online scam networks, and human trafficking in Southeast Asia.

New York Post | A Cambodia-based gang with ties to North Korea has stolen billions of dollars from Americans through romance scams and other cyber-heists, according to federal officials.

The Big Trace | The Philippines offers a glimmer of hope that Southeast Asia's scam industry isn’t destined for a future of unchecked growth.

NBC News | A new report from the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center illustrates how cybercrime is a growing problem, with older Americans hit particularly hard.

WIRED | Millions of scam text messages are sent monthly. The Chinese cybercriminals sending them are expanding their operations — and innovating quickly.

New York Times |  Governments and law enforcement face a complex, ever-evolving, and shape-shifting web of connections, preventing them from stopping the criminal organizations behind it all.

The Big Trace | Heavy construction, military deployments, international airlifts and other take-aways from a recent visit to a global scamming hotspot.

WIRED | A investigation reveals that criminals who make billions from scam compounds in Myanmar—where tens of thousands of people are enslaved—are using Starlink to get online.

The Economist | Online scamming compares in size and scope to the illegal drug industry. In many ways it is worse. Everyone becomes a potential target simply by going about their lives. [paywall]

WIRED | Romance scams cost victims billions every year. As people grow increasingly isolated, scammers are using generative AI to scale their crimes.

The Big Trace | A growing community of selfless activists is taking responsibility to tackle Southeast Asia’s growing fraud problem.

The Big Trace | Reflections on an eye-opening journey along the Thai-Myanmar border where, at least for now, crime does pay.

WIRED | We talk a lot about scamming operations in Southeast Asia, but the criminal organizations that run them have expanded their operations worldwide.