AI helps scam centers evade crackdown in Asia and dupe more victims

Shwe Kokko city, a casino, entertainment, and tourism complex,from Thailand's side of the border after Bangkok said it would suspend electricity supply to some border areas with Myanmar to try to curb scam centers, in the Mae Sot district, Thailand, on Feb. 5, 2025 | REUTERS Criminals in Southeast Asia are harnessing inexpensive artificial intelligence tools to target bigger pools of potential victims at high speed, keeping scam centers humming even as governments try and crack down, senior officials at Interpol say. Previously, some scams were easy to spot -- from poor quality online ads luring people to work in such centers to the scams themselves, typically designed to make people part with their money through the promise of romance or investment returns. Now, scammers are using large language models and other AI tools to make their cons more sophisticated. Artificial intelligence also allows them to change course quickly, shifting to newer targets and from fresh locations. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.