Malaysia Must Confront Rise Of Ai Driven Crime

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ORGANISED crime is undergoing a dangerous transformation, and Malaysia is not immune.

Recent reports by Europol and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveal how criminal networks are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to scale operations, evade detection, and exploit legal and technological gaps across borders.
AI is not just an enabler but it is now the engine behind a new era of digital-first criminal enterprises.
According to Europol’s 2025 Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment, criminal groups are rapidly integrating AI into their operations.
The report highlights that over 86% of criminal networks active in the European Union use legal business structures to support their illicit activities, often hiding behind complex digital fronts.d chatbot-assisted scams are being deployed to commit fraud, manipulate victims, and conduct cyberattacks at unprecedented scale and speed.
Europol warns that organised crime has become more violent, more digital, and more elusive than ever.
Closer to home, the UNODC’s 2024 report on transnational organised crime in Southeast Asia paints an equally disturbing picture.
(Image: theSun)The report estimates that cyber-enabled scam operations in the region, many powered by AI, generated between US$17 bil and US$40 bil in illicit revenue in 2023 alone.
These operations largely based in countries like Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia often exploit trafficked victims who are forced to work in scam compounds.
From here, syndicates target victims worldwide, including Malaysia, with increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes that blur the line between organised crime and digital terrorism.

Malaysia’s exposure to this threat is direct and growing. With a young, digitally connected population and expanding fintech ecosystem, Malaysia has become both a target and a potential base of operations for these networks.
Criminal syndicates exploit Malaysia’s proximity to regional crime hubs and use its digital infrastructure to move money, mask identities, and recruit new victims.
Malaysians themselves have been lured into scam centres overseas under false job offers, only to be trapped in forced labour conditions and coerced into perpetuating these frauds.
What makes this new wave of crime especially dangerous is the speed and scale at which it evolves.

With AI, a single actor can run scams targeting tens of thousands of individuals across multiple languages, platforms, and jurisdictions—all while remaining hidden behind synthetic identities.
Biometric deepfakes can now bypass facial recognition systems, while generative AI creates personalised phishing content that traditional filters can’t detect. Law enforcement, if left unequipped, will be chasing shadows.
To safeguard national interests, Malaysia must take urgent and strategic action on multiple fronts.
First, we need to modernise our laws to criminalise AI-specific misuse such as malicious use of deepfakes, autonomous scam bots, and synthetic identity fraud.

Our legal frameworks must be future-proofed, recognising not only new forms of crime but also the hybrid nature of digital and physical threats.
Second, Malaysia must establish a public-private cybercrime intelligence centre which bringing together government agencies, banks, telcos, and tech platforms to detect AI-driven fraud in real time.
Financial institutions and online marketplaces are often the first to see signs of AI-assisted scams. Creating secure channels to share this intelligence can enable faster interventions and disrupt criminal activity before it spreads.
Third, regional cooperation must become a priority. Criminal networks exploit jurisdictional gaps to operate with impunity.

Malaysia should strengthen its engagement with ASEAN mechanisms and support joint enforcement operations against scam centres, human trafficking routes, and illegal digital infrastructure.
Intelligence sharing and coordinated cross-border action are essential to dismantling these syndicates.
Fourth, Malaysia must invest in AI for defense, not just enforcement. Law enforcement agencies need AI-powered forensic tools to detect and trace synthetic content, monitor financial anomalies, and link criminal networks across digital platforms.
(Image: EY)At the same time, local universities and startups should be encouraged to develop indigenous AI tools tailored to Malaysian languages and regional threats.
Fifth, we must build public resilience. Criminals rely on public ignorance to succeed. National digital literacy campaigns particularly aimed at youth, the elderly, and rural communities can reduce victimisation and make scams easier to detect.
Communities must understand how deepfakes, scam calls, and AI phishing work, and know how to report suspicious activity.
Lastly, Malaysia must address the underlying vulnerabilities that these syndicates exploit. Economic hardship, job insecurity, and lack of opportunity make individuals more susceptible to recruitment by criminal networks.

Providing alternative pathways through vocational training, digital upskilling, and social support can shrink the pool of vulnerable targets and reduce the risk of citizens being lured into criminal ecosystems.
The Europol and UNODC reports are clear: organised crime is no longer bound by borders, nor by the limitations of manpower or geography. With AI, it has become scalable, agile, and nearly invisible.
But this transformation is not irreversible. If Malaysia acts swiftly with vision, collaboration, and innovation it can not only protect its citizens, but also position itself as a regional leader in the fight against AI-driven organised crime.
This is a battle we must prepare for not tomorrow, but today.
R Paneir Selvam is the principal consultant of Arunachala Research & Consultancy Sdn Bhd, a think tank specialising in strategic national and geopolitical matters.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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