A group of suspects accused of being involved in an elaborate scam have been charged with syndicated estafa by the Baguio City Prosecutor’s Office in the Philippines.

Messaging app Telegram has pledged closer cooperation with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to better combat scams and illegal online gambling.

Illegal online gambling and scam operations in Southeast Asia are nothing new, with a monitoring group noting that they have been expanding since at least 2010, as nefarious operators seek new harbors to ply their craft. Meanwhile, in Macau, the mixture of mainland Chinese visitors is increasing, as the Individual Visitor Scheme expands and more events are held in the city.

Southeast Asia illegal online gaming and scam industries have been growing since at least 2010, but expansion in the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos was rapid from the mid-2010s, Cyber Scam Monitor (CSM), an independent monitoring group, told AGB.

Myanmar police handed over six alleged key figures in a cyber scam fraud group and four other major crime suspects to Chinese public security authorities, as part of efforts to crack down on cross-border long-distance scams targeting Chinese nationals.

The United States, United Kingdom, and Canada have imposed coordinated sanctions against 14 individuals and entities for their involvement in Southeast Asia’s online scamming industry, including some figures linked to regional casinos.

More than 200 suspects involved in Myanmar-based cyber scams have been detained by police in one of the largest joint crackdowns between Beijing and the Southeast Asian country, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced on Tuesday.

Singapore authorities have taken action to block some fake websites, which are luring readers into online gaming scams.

The Malaysian government will consider tightening laws to protect its citizens from being conned by syndicates offering fake job offers abroad, following the country's Foreign Affairs office receipt of 572 reports involving Malaysian who were victims of ‘job scam’ syndicates abroad.

Philippine senator Risa Hotiveros is asking the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police Cybercrime Division to investigate an alleged large scale Chinese human trafficking operation using Filipino teams in Myanmar to operate cryptocurrency scams.