United Nations: Telegram funneling Southeast Asia’s crime network

A new report released by the United Nations revealed that Telegram is being used extensively by criminal networks in Southeast Asia, with an increase in AI-driven crimes in the region as well.

Social media messaging app Telegram continues to face all sorts of challenges around the world. Even before the arrest of Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO and founder, the app has already been flagged by several law enforcement agencies for being used as a platform for cybercriminals as well as criminals to run their activities.

In September, French prosecutors arrested Durov over suspected criminal activities on the platform. There were also queries about the company’s cooperation with law enforcement agencies, specifically in handling data related to investigations. While Durov has been released on bail, Telegram announced that it will be making some changes to reduce criminal activity on the platform.

With nearly a billion followers, Telegram remains a popular social messaging app despite the concerns of criminal activities. In Southeast Asia, Telegram is often used by government agencies in some countries as a communicating tool with the public. In fact, Indonesia has the most Telegram users in the region, with Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia reporting high usage activity as well.

A new report released by the United Nations revealed that Telegram is being used extensively by criminal networks in Southeast Asia. The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) started that the app has many channels with little moderation that sell hacked data, deepfakes and other tools used for cybercrime, including data stealing malware.

The report outlined recent cases the demonstrated how deregulated online gambling platforms and increasingly high-risk and often unauthorized virtual asset service providers (VASPs) have proliferated in recent years. Major organized crime groups use these to move, launder and integrate billions in criminal proceeds into the financial system without accountability.

Masood Karimipour, UNODC Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific stated that organized crime groups are converging and exploiting vulnerabilities, and the evolving situation is rapidly outpacing governments’ capacity to contain it.

“Leveraging technological advances, criminal groups are producing larger scale and harder to detect fraud, money laundering, underground banking and online scams. This has led to the creation of a criminal service economy, and the region has now emerged as a key testing ground for transnational criminal networks looking to expand their influence and diversify into new business lines,” said Karimipour.

Despite this, governments in Southeast Asia remain confident in dealing with the issue. In Singapore, law enforcement agencies continue to takedown Telegram groups that are being used for such activities while Malaysian government officials have had discussions with Telegram on how they can mitigate the issue.

The rise of AI-driven crimes on Telegram

UNODC’s report also revealed that there was an estimated US$18 billion to US$37 billion worth of financial losses from scams in East and Southeast Asia in 2023. A high proportion of these losses are attributed to scams committed by organized crime groups in Southeast Asia.

The increasing use of generative AI has also led to an increase rise in AI-driven crimes. A whopping 600% increase in the mentions of deepfake-related content targeting criminal groups in Southeast Asia across monitored online platforms in the first half of 2024 was discovered.

“The integration of generative AI by transnational criminal groups involved in cyber-enabled fraud is a complex and alarming trend observed in Southeast Asia, and one that represents a powerful force multiplier for criminal activities,” said John Wojcik, UNODC Regional Analyst.

Wojcik believes these developments have not only expanded the scope and efficiency of cyber-enabled fraud and cybercrime but have also lowered the barriers to entry for criminal networks that previously lacked the technical skills to exploit more sophisticated and profitable methods.

The report highlighted the use of deepfakes in sextortion schemes which have been found often targeting vulnerable youth populations. This alarming trend aligns with analyses of activity on regional underground Telegram marketplaces and forums, where AI and deepfake tools are frequently referenced by users engaged in sextortion and the creation or distribution of deepfake pornographic content.

The Singapore Police Force also reported that more Singaporeans are falling for scams on Telegram with a 137.5% increase in Telegram scam cases in the first half of 2024.