Nearly Half of Reported ASEAN Scam Cases Remain Unresolved, GSMA Report Reveals

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 – Nearly half of all reported scam cases across six major Southeast Asian nations remain unresolved, even as consumers adopt greater safeguards to protect themselves, according to the GSMA ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 released at the Digital Trust Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The study, which surveyed consumers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, revealed that 45 per cent of reported scam incidents have yet to see resolution.

The findings highlight a substantial financial toll on victims across the region, with approximately 8 per cent of surveyed consumers reporting that they had been scammed within the past 12 months. Among those who fell victim to fraudulent schemes, 68 per cent suffered direct financial losses. Furthermore, 82 per cent of victims failed to recover any of their stolen funds, while only 10 per cent managed to recover their losses in full.

This ongoing wave of unresolved fraud is actively eroding public confidence across communication channels, digital platforms, and data-sharing services. In response, many consumers are fundamentally altering how they interact with digital services and handle incoming communications. Messaging applications have surfaced as the single most prominent vector for fraudulent approaches, representing 41 per cent of all reported scam encounters, while consumers’ association of major digital platforms with fraud continues to rise region-wide.

Heightened anxiety surrounding digital security is now nearly universal, with 96 per cent of consumers expressing concern about being scammed or hacked. Additionally, nearly nine in 10 respondents reported recognizing at least one form of artificial intelligence being leveraged in fraudulent tactics. Scammers are increasingly shifting away from traditional technical breaches toward social engineering schemes—such as investment, cryptocurrency, online shopping, and job scams—where victims are directly persuaded to transfer funds themselves. Consequently, consumers who have experienced a scam are more than twice as likely to switch accounts or service providers.

–NMT