SINGAPORE, 22 October 2024 – UNDP, together with its global coalition partners, has launched the Anti-Scam Handbook (v1.0) at the Global Anti-Scam Summit Asia, held in Singapore. The Handbook highlights the serious and growing threat that digital scams pose to the development agenda. It provides strategies and tools for high-impact collective response across the public sector, businesses, and civil society at the global and national levels.

Scams were found to cause over USD 1 trillion in financial losses last year (more than 1% global GDP), with one in four persons falling victim worldwide.¹ However, the magnitude and scale are greater due to unreported cases, wider human costs and societal damages. Scams can impact victims and their communities by eroding trust in the digital economy, platforms, and services, undermining the benefits that digitalization could bring. Effective response is challenging as scam operations become increasingly sophisticated while exploiting digital technologies. Developing countries are especially vulnerable with multiple pressing development needs and limited resources.

UNDP started the initiative to spur global collaboration in safeguarding development gains toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals, aligned with the Global Digital Compact on “the need to identify and mitigate risks and to ensure human oversight of technology in ways that advance sustainable development and the full enjoyment of human rights”.

Anti-Scam Handbook

The Anti-Scam Handbook culminates from the collaboration among UNDP and its global coalition partners over the past six months.

Highlights include:

• Insights into the dynamics of digital scams in developing countries at various stages of development across Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
• Findings on the evolving trends in digital scams (such as phishing, social engineering, e-commerce, romance, and employment scams) with technologies like Artificial Intelligence.
• Strategies for start-to-end response (covering education, prevention, detection, disruption, reporting, recovery, enforcement, intelligence) and tools to facilitate effective multi-stakeholder collaboration.
• Collaboration with partners in Cambodia on an ethnographic research  in August and a multi-stakeholder workshop in September, leading to key lessons for enhancing responses to digital scams locally and globally.
• Prospective high-impact initiatives identified for global partnerships to tackle digital scams.

Actions Going Forward

Beyond a publication, this is a call to action. Our key global coalition partners have committed valuable resources to support our partners in Cambodia to strengthen capabilities in tackling digital scams, as a continuation of the successful workshop in September.

• Mastercard will support delegates identified by UNDP through its 2025-2026 FlexiMasters program in Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, jointly developed with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore.
• INTERPOL will train officers in INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) mechanism, which enables the swift cross-border exchange of intelligence on fraudulent transactions. These capacity building sessions will also cover the Financial Crime Analysis File (FinCAF) to support effective international investigations, as well as cryptocurrency analytics and global best practices.

We look forward to shaping high-impact collaborative responses against digital scams, while also building broader insights, experience, and expertise into the next iteration (v2.0) of this handbook!

Quotes by UNDP and Key Partners

Mr Joe Hooper, Director of UNDP Global Centre, Singapore and Ms Alissar Chaker, Resident Representative, UNDP Cambodia, said, “UNDP recognizes the critical need to act swiftly against the rising tide of digital scams, which threaten hard-won development gains. Our strength lies in bringing together a global coalition of partners, and we are grateful for the support of Mastercard, INTERPOL, ThinkPlace, and many others who have joined us on this important journey. The success of our recent workshop in Cambodia, which convened over 40 experts from 20 organizations, is a testament to the power of collective action. While this is a significant first step, we remain humble in acknowledging that there is much more to be done, and we look forward to continuing these collaborations to drive impactful solutions globally.”

Mr Rajat Maheshwari, Vice President, Security Solutions, Mastercard and Chair of Global Anti Scam Alliance (GASA) Singapore Chapter, said, “The increase in scams is a growing issue as it undermines trust in the digital ecosystem globally. It will take stakeholders across public and private sectors to work together to address this major challenge. Therefore, Mastercard has joined forces with UNDP to tackle this rising threat of scams, and to bring skills development opportunities for partner organizations in Cambodia through the Mastercard-NTU FlexiMasters in Cybersecurity & Digital Trust. Today’s GASA Summit in Singapore also underlines the industry’s willingness to collaborate against cyber fraud, and Singapore’s success in fostering public-private cooperation for this cause.”

Mr Tomonobu Kaya, Assistant Director, INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said, “Scams today are increasingly sophisticated and orchestrated across borders, with criminals in one country defrauding victims in another, and laundering the profits in yet a third. No jurisdiction can tackle these crimes alone; a global approach is vital to stay ahead of evolving organized crime tactics. This goes beyond traditional cooperation, requiring integrated strategies, advanced tools, and seamless cross-border coordination. As outlined in this Handbook, INTERPOL is proud to contribute to a unified global effort in the fight against scams, recognizing that only together can we tip the scales.”

Mr Bill Bannear, General Manager Consortia and Coalitions, ThinkPlace, said, “The Coalition is a great example of a new way of working that we are proud to facilitate. It brings together diverse actors across sectors, across borders, and linking global to local perspectives and capabilities. By creating, or drawing together trusted ecosystems quickly, we can mobilise shared capability for rapid action. The relationships created are equally important for long-term results.”

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About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development is a joint initiative by the Government of Singapore and the UNDP which aims at identifying and co-creating technological solutions for sustainable development. The Centre curates partnerships, identifies solutions and connects partners and innovations with UNDP’s Global Policy Network and development partners.

Media Contact

Li Wen Ng, Communication Consultant, liwen.ng@undp.org

¹ “Global State of Scams 2023 Report”, by Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) and Scam Adviser. Reported in Straits Times: $1.4 trillion lost to scams globally; S’pore victims lost the most on average: Study | The Straits Times