Ryan Winch

Thailand, S. Korea can work together on cybercrime, economy: Thai PM Thai PM aims for $30b trade with Seoul, hopes for early conclusion of CEPA talks

More evidence of #scam centre response cooperation intensifying & importantly bringing in key impacted countries beyond #SoutheastAsia - as a global challenge this will require globally coordinated solutions. Great to see increasing process in that direction www.nationthailand.com/blogs/news/p...

🛠 Piloting frontline tools like the Screening and Referral Toolkit in airports.
🤝 Expanding secondments and peer-to-peer exchanges.
🛜 Creating platforms like the Regional Information, Liaison and Outreach Network (RILON) Initiative to support whole-of-route action.

Challenges in addressing irregular migration, people smuggling and human trafficking challenges are growing in scale and complexity. With challenges, come opportunities to enhance regional cooperation and innovation.

Join #OSCE & @baliprocessrso.bsky.social for a webinar series (22–24 Sept) on risks & responses related to #AI and #TraffickingInPersons:

🔹 22 Sept (Civil society & academia): buff.ly/DJCwsge
🔹 23 Sept (Private sector): buff.ly/Pwsu7a3
🔹 24 Sept (Gov’ts & policy makers): reach out for link

New RSO supported report on illicit #financial flows + cyber-#scam centres now online!

Have thoughts on improving responses? It'd be great to connect with practitioners, policymakers & private sector partners working on this. Please get in touch if you have ideas or would like to discuss further!

New RSO supported report on illicit #financial flows + cyber-#scam centres now online!

Have thoughts on improving responses? It'd be great to connect with practitioners, policymakers & private sector partners working on this. Please get in touch if you have ideas or would like to discuss further!

🚨 NEW RESEARCH
Cyber-scam centres in Southeast Asia generate billions annually — targeting victims worldwide and exploiting trafficked workers. Many have evolved into transnational networks linking fraud, trafficking, money laundering, and illegal gambling.
📖 tinyurl.com/y4rnzmx2

Great to see the enthusiasm from students & to get their insights into online behaviour, job market dynamics & specific search terminology traffickers could exploit. Their insights led to many new ideas that I'll be carrying forward to support @baliprocessrso.bsky.social's future prevention efforts!

Yesterday's Policy Hackathon w/ @Meta
& ASEAN-Australia Counter Trafficking 🇦🇺 provided a unique platform to discuss cyber-scam centre response directly with Thai 🇹🇭 youth, having their insights inform prevention efforts & strategies for flagging suspicious job posts on #SocialMedia

Great to see enthusiasm from students throughout & to get their insights into online behaviour, job market dynamics & specific search terminology traffickers could exploit. Their insights led to many new ideas that I'll be carrying forward to support @baliprocessrso.bsky.social prevention efforts!

149 arrested for online fraud in raid on factory in Faisalabad The premises is allegedly owned by Fesco BoD ex-head; 48 Chinese nationals among the suspects.

PAKISTAN: Authorities arrest 149, incl. 48 Chinese, 8 Nigerian, 6 Bangladeshi, 4 Filipino, 2 Sri Lankan, 2 Myanmar, 1 Zimbabwean, in raid on factory in Faisalabad. Report indicates they ran investment scams and also engaged in hacking & other cybercrimes. www.dawn.com/news/1922894...

Arrest warrant out for Cambodian casino owner The Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Cambodian property owner Kok An, accused of backing scam centres in Poipet.

Big news for the counter cyber-scam centre effort today, with a warrant issued for Kok An in #Thailand

#Cambodia #ScamCentres #OrganizedCrime
www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/gen...

For Survivors Using Chatbots, ‘Delete’ Doesn’t Always Mean Deleted | TechPolicy.Press Many survivors may assume that AI platforms and chatbots offer common privacy protections, but these are not guaranteed, Belle Torek writes.

After a recent court order, OpenAI is now required to retain the very data many of its users believed to be most private. This introduces serious privacy risks, especially for vulnerable users like victims and survivors of domestic violence, Belle Torek writes.

Compound crime: Cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia Cyber scam operations have surged across Southeast Asia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, evolving into a transnational organized crime crisis of staggering proportions. In this report, we exp...

How do cyber-scam centres actually operate — and why are they proving so difficult to address?

This new report from #GITOC offers one of the clearest pictures to date, detailing how these operations are structured, sustained, and expanding across the region🧵

📘: globalinitiative.net/analysis/com...

The report reflects close collaboration between GITOC and partners, including support from the @baliprocessrso.bsky.social — helping ensure the research is grounded in both frontline realities and regional policy contexts

More to come soon on illicit financial flows 💰 linked to these operations!

The harms outlined go far beyond financial losses. These operations are fueled by trafficking for forced criminality and increasingly undermine the rule of law — with knock-on effects for governance, development, and regional security.

It explores:
💻 The internal setup of cyber-scam centres & the range of actors working within them
🔗 How corruption, complicity, & protection networks enable these operations
👥 The intersection of trafficking & fraud — and challenges for identifying victims
🧭 Starting points for improving responses

Compound crime: Cyber scam operations in Southeast Asia Cyber scam operations have surged across Southeast Asia since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, evolving into a transnational organized crime crisis of staggering proportions. In this report, we exp...

How do cyber-scam centres actually operate — and why are they proving so difficult to address?

This new report from #GITOC offers one of the clearest pictures to date, detailing how these operations are structured, sustained, and expanding across the region🧵

📘: globalinitiative.net/analysis/com...

An op-ed by RSO Co-Managers Fuad Adriansyah (Indonesia) and David Scott (Australia) published in the @Diplomat_APAC today discusses the devastating human cost of legal invisibility for individuals, and champions the momentum for change in #SoutheastAsia.

Read the full op-ed here: buff.ly/RYr2LjX

📢 One week left to apply!

The RSO is recruiting for a new Programme Manager (International Migration Strategies) to lead the establishment of a senior policy group on irregular migration in the Andaman Sea.

⏰ Apply before 8 June: buff.ly/DvKPsG0

💡In order to develop information campaigns & public messaging to prevent individuals from undertaking dangerous #irregular journeys, it is crucial to understand how persons at risk of #irregular migration & their origin communities perceive (irregular) migration, & their #informationneeds

✈️ Last week, the RSO participated in the #BudapestProcess Working Group meeting on Returns & Reintegration, in Istanbul, Turkiye—as part of a long-standing relationship between the RSO & the Budapest Process, & recognising overlapping memberships & challenges for the Budapest and Bali Processes

How can understanding the drivers and consequences of irregular migration help strengthen investigations into serious crime? RSO presented to law enforcement officers at the IMOSC XVIII Programme, drawing on the findings of an assessment on Community Perceptions and Information Needs.

Come work with our Transnational Crime and Technology Programme!

Exciting role will work w/ myself, social media platforms & law enforcement to develop a toolkit focused on electronic evidence sharing, improving content moderation & supporting collaboration in trafficking investigations.

📢 New job alert!
The RSO is recruiting for a new Online Platforms Toolkit & Research Consultant, who will map & analyse content moderation policies & provide insights on good practices for content moderation to reduce transnational organised crime online.
🔗 More info: tinyurl.com/yc55cscx

Come work with our Transnational Crime and Technology Programme!

Exciting role will work w/ myself, social media platforms & law enforcement to develop a toolkit focused on electronic evidence sharing, improving content moderation & supporting collaboration in trafficking investigations.

Your Favorite New Coworker Is an AI-Enhanced Operative From North Korea For years, North Korea has been secretly placing young IT workers inside Western companies. With AI, their schemes are now more devious—and effective—than ever.

If you’re not familiar, skilled North Korean developers have been finding freelance work at, and infiltrating, Western companies for years using false personas

They send their wages back to Pyongyang to help fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons and sanctions evasion. There are thousands of IT workers

The RSO is recruiting for a new Programme Manager (Information Sharing & Regional Responses). The Consultant will lead on engagement to support establishment of 2 cross-border networks, supporting regional cooperation on maritime people smuggling.
⏰ Apply before 22 May
🔗 More info: buff.ly/TMGw757

Call for applications now online for new PM position at the RSO. Come join the team! 🤝