Vienna: Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow called for intensified political will and cross-border cooperation to dismantle international scam networks at the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna on Monday, warning that online fraud now causes over $40 billion in annual losses across East and Southeast Asia.

According to Thai News Agency, Sihasak emphasized during the summit co-hosted by the UNODC and INTERPOL that the nature of security threats has evolved from state conflicts to transnational cybercrime. He stressed that these "scammer centers" not only result in economic damage but also have deep connections to human rights abuses, such as human trafficking and forced labor. Sihasak pointed out that Southeast Asia is at the forefront of this crisis, serving as both a primary operating hub and a region for potential solutions.

Thailand has prioritized cracking down on cybercrime as a national initiative. Since February 2025, Thai authorities have repatriated over 13,200 trafficking victims from scam centers in 40 countries. A recent collaborative operation involving ASEAN police, U.S. agencies, and Meta successfully shut down 150,000 suspicious accounts and rescued hundreds of individuals coerced into criminal labor.

Sihasak committed Thailand to a three-pillar strategy aimed at combating the issue: enhancing anti-money laundering measures to confiscate criminal assets, leveraging AI and advanced analytics to monitor fraudulent activities, and promoting the real-time exchange of intelligence and evidence among nations.

During the summit, the Thai delegation supported two significant frameworks: a Call to Action against fraud and a Global Public-Private Partnership Framework, with the aim of ensuring that the digital space no longer serves as a haven for criminal networks.