INTERPOL Warns About AI Scams and Ransomware Surge in Asia-Pacific

INTERPOL’s latest ‘2025/2026 Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment’ report states that cybercrime is no longer a niche threat and is becoming a mainstream criminal industry that hits governments, businesses, and everyday people.

One of the report’s most interesting findings is that in over half of the surveyed Asia‑Pacific countries, cybercrime makes up at least 30% of all crime. That big a percentage means it has become a serious law enforcement and economic issue.

INTERPOL lists several reasons for the growth, including fast digitalization, more people online, the rise of digital finance, uneven security readiness across countries, the spread of organized cybercrime rings, and increasing use of AI by criminals.

Phishing as the Most Widespread Cyberthreat

According to the document, phishing is now the most widespread and costly type of cybercrime in the region.

One‑third of the countries surveyed said they had over 10,000 phishing incidents between January 2024 and March 2025. On top of that, people in the Asia‑Pacific region click on phishing links about twice as often as the rest of the world, roughly 5.5 clicks per 1,000 users each month, versus the global average of 2.9.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway is how much AI is changing things. INTERPOL warns that criminals are now using deepfakes, voice cloning, AI‑driven phishing, automated scams, and AI‑powered social engineering to pull off their attacks.

Interestingly, discussions about deepfakes on underground forums and Telegram channels used by Southeast Asian cybercriminals jumped 600% between February and June 2024.

INTERPOL’s March 2026 ‘Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment’ says AI‑powered scams are notably more profitable than traditional ones. The agency flagged agentic AI systems that can automate a lot of the dirty work, like scoping out targets, building victim profiles, running phishing campaigns, and even handling extortion.

Ransomware Remains a Massive Threat

The report estimates that the region saw over 135,000 ransomware attacks in 2024, with financial services, manufacturing, and real estate the hardest-hit sectors.

Apart from simply encrypting files, modern ransomware steals sensitive data, threatens to leak it, uses regulatory rules to pile on pressure, targets executives directly, and runs double or triple-extortion campaigns. Nowadays, ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) is also rising in use, where criminal groups sell their attack tools to affiliates.

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