At a Glance
- Scams are growing increasingly prevalent in Southeast Asia and are likely to result in harm, with more than half of encounters resulting in the loss of something valuable. Exposure is more broadly distributed, closely tracking digital activity rather than stereotypes about vulnerability.
- The more pressing concern in Southeast Asia is resilience, not awareness. Most of the region’s digital users are able to detect scams and have received some form of training, but stumble in responding. Majority take at least one risky action, such as continuing to engage with the scammer, or are unclear about where to report. Long term, scam encounters leave a lasting impact on victims, affecting their trust in digital spaces and leading them to change their digital behaviour.
- The road to scam resilience in Southeast Asia is shared by all of society. It requires universal protection, reinforcing verification as a lifelong habit, a standardised response plan to encounters, and sustained investment in enhancing trust infrastructure across the region.
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Southeast Asia’s continued uptick in digital usage and adoption of emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) presents its own risks, especially in the form of scams. The United Nations reports that victims of transnational online scams across East and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand have lost up to US$114.1 billion (S$147.2 billion) in 2025, with estimated losses at least tripling from 2023.
Combined, the prevalence and complexity of emerging schemes have the potential to affect user confidence and trust in the digital space. Loss of trust may lead to reduced digital participation, which, if exacerbated, may turn into wider-scale withdrawal from the digital economy. If left unchecked, digitally-enabled scams are thus a threat not just to individuals but to society as a whole. There is thus a need to ensure that Southeast Asia develops resilience against scams.
This report expands on previous research in Building Resilience Against Digitally-enabled Scams and Fraud in Southeast Asia: A Whole-of-Society Approach, by examining the state of scam resilience in six Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) through the lens of the region’s digital users. It studies the factors that drive exposure, the relationship between user confidence and demonstrated scam detection skills, and the degree of individual readiness in responding to attempts. Further, it explores the impact of scams on trust and digital participation, and how the region can leverage a whole-of-society approach in designing potential interventions.
Key Takeaways
Several interconnected themes emerge from gathering user experiences throughout the scam lifecycle:
Around three in five Southeast Asians have encountered a scam, and more than half of these attempts result in a loss. The risk also appears more broadly distributed than originally believed. Segments that are more digitally active are reporting higher rates of victimisation compared to stereotypically at-risk groups: 46% of 18–34s versus 21% of those aged 50 and above, and 40% of employed people vs 27% of those not working have lost something to a scam last year. Exposure is thus becoming a function of heightened digital activity and ability to spend, not demographic vulnerability.
On average, Southeast Asians’ confidence is low (42%), but their actual detection performance is high (71%). The disconnect between self-perceived and demonstrated ability plays out in different ways. Of particular concern are the almost 1 in 3 respondents for whom overconfidence is the issue, not ignorance. While they rate their confidence high, they perform poorly in the scam scenarios, and more than half (52) had previously been scam victims. Additionally, Southeast Asia’s strong overall scam recognition belies susceptibility to certain kinds of scams. Detection accuracy, for example, falls to as low as 60% for sophisticated tactics such as authority impersonation. Notably, neither experience nor confidence are reliable predictors for scam detection skills.
Even when scams are correctly identified, the challenge is whether users are able to disengage safely from an encounter and protect themselves from succeeding attempts. 61% of Southeast Asians take at least one risky action despite relatively safe digital habits, and reporting is unclear everywhere: only 53% of respondents know where to report a scam. There is also a tendency for repeated victimisation due to taking unsafe actions, such as victims contacting the scammer to ask for their money back (13%). Victim recovery is further constrained by a tension between empathy in principle and blame in practice: while 78% agree that victims should be able to report without embarrassment, 48% still view victims as careless, greedy, or at fault.
Only 11% of respondents say they would not significantly limit their use of digital services because of scams. This means that for the majority, reduced participation is a real and present risk if scam harm goes unaddressed. Law enforcement (54%) and government agencies (53%) are the most trusted to help people respond to scams, consistent with users’ instinct to contact their bank or the police once a scam has succeeded. Specifically, strengthening security measures is key to winning back trust, though a small proportion of users say that trust can never be restored once lost.
The report proposes the following high-level priorities as the region adapts to the evolving scam landscape:
- Protect universally, tailor delivery. Universal exposure requires universal baseline protection, but outreach need not be uniform. A culturally informed, inclusive strategy, supported by shared data, should reflect how different cohorts encounter scams.
- Verify routinely. Modern scams unfold over extended, multi-step interactions, and legitimacy cues are fading. Scam education efforts should thus evolve beyond one-off awareness campaigns towards building routine verification behaviours, while reinforcing users’ confidence in their own judgement.
- Respond collectively. Post-incident response cannot be improvised. Banks, platforms, regulators and users require a shared response playbook. This should also include transparent and reliable pathways for victim support and recovery
- Trust confidently through sustained investment and regional alignment. Long term, the region will need to continuously build the adaptive capacity needed for scam prevention and mitigation measures to keep pace with the landscape. The ASEAN Guide on Anti-Scam Policies and Best Practices, endorsed by ASEAN digital ministers in January 2026, provides a starting point for regional coordination in developing anti-scam efforts.
The report adds to Southeast Asia’s continuing dialogue on mitigating the broader impact of scams on the region’s digital economy aspirations. It provides an evidence base and serves as a thought starter for how the region should shape its anti-scam efforts moving forward. For Southeast Asia, the more pressing issue is resilience, not awareness. Experience does not guarantee protection; detection ability wanes as new schemes emerge, and uncertainty in response extends the harm done. Encounters also clearly affect trust in digital spaces and are changing digital behaviours. As scam risks continue to escalate, it is necessary for institutions and communities to work together in ensuring safe, secure and trustworthy digital spaces.
