In-depth reporting on Malaysia and the region.
Kedah police have dismantled a sophisticated online romance scam network that preyed on Japanese nationals, arresting seven foreign operatives running the illicit call centre operation.
Coordinated romance fraud syndicates are using AI-generated deepfake videos to impersonate Dubai's Crown Prince Hamdan, targeting victims across Southeast Asia and beyond. Researchers trace operations to Nigerian crime networks exploiting the royal's massive social media following.
Romance scams have become one of the world's fastest-growing online frauds, with criminals using artificial intelligence to create convincing fake identities and extract millions from unsuspecting victims across multiple continents.