Almost ten percent of ASEAN consumers were victims of scam last year, with 84% of respondents worried about the scams.
September 24, 2025Kuala Lumpur: Digital scams are an intensive concern for consumers throughout Southeast Asia, with almost one in ten consumers (8%) in the scammed region in the last year, a new report in charge of GSMA on scams revealed today. The “consumer scam report Asean 2025”, written by the advisor Armidale, shows that growth in digital scams and fraud is eroding digital trust with more than two thirds (67%) of consumers who say they are “very worried” about the threat. About 84% of respondents fear that scams are increasing.
Presented at the Summit of the Digital Nation – Kuala Lumpur.
- Victimization: eight percent of the respondents were scammed in the last year; 25% of these incidents were not informed (32% in Indonesia).
- Financial damage: 11% of the victims lost material sums that still bother them; The action increases to 16% in Malaysia.
- Anxiety: 67% describe themselves as “very concerned” about scams, and 84% believe that scams are increasing, almost a third says “very quickly.”
- Behavior change: 92% have altered their online habits; The adoption of the authentication of two factors is the most common step.
- Ai Amaza: 6% reports to be attacked by scams that believe they were generated by AI.
- Attack channels: Voice calls and messaging applications deliver 37% of scams, closely followed by publication publications.
- Platform perception: 61% associate Facebook with scams.
- Caution of social trade: in Singapore, 83% avoid buying on Facebook and 67% avoid the Tiktok store, versus averages of the Asean of 51% and 31%.
- Bank loyalty: 36% would change to financial services suppliers for stronger security that takes advantage of telecommunications data ideas.
- Who should act: governments (24%) and banks (22%) are seen as main defenders; In Indonesia and the Philippines, a majority of people look for technological and social networks (17%) platforms to monitor better.
Julian Gorman, Chief of Asia Pacific, GSMA, said: “Consumer confidence is the basis of ASEAN's digital economy. Our latest data reveals a crisis of trust. People are changing the way they behave online, and in some cases, moving away completely. Unless we act decisively and together, we run the risk of losing the time that digitalization has been built through southeastern Asia.”
The report also emphasizes that maintaining Asean's digital economy requires a united front. Governments and the banking sector, considered by citizens as first -line responders, must collaborate closely with mobile operators and technology platforms to standardize security protocols, share threat intelligence and expand public consciousness initiatives. User Restoration
Trust through these joint efforts is essential to unlock the complete promise of digital connectivity for each person and businesses in Southeast Asia.
With these challenges to the helm, GSMA is asking for greater collaboration between mobile operators, financial institutions, electronic commerce platforms and governments for:
- Standardize threat reports and cyber hygiene practices in all sectors
- Take advantage of telecommunications data ideas for real -time fraud detection
- Expand digital literacy campaigns and chest
- Harmonize data protection and digital consumer rights frameworks
- Admits safe payment systems and cross -border integration of QR code
The findings are found together with the new Digital Nations report of GSMA 2025, which compare the preparation of the ASEAN member states to achieve the Strategic Connectivity Plan of the ASEAN 2026-2035. The security and confidence of the consumer are identified as central elements of the digital nation, with the results of the scam report that underline the urgent need for a decisive and intersectoral collaboration now.
Two of these GSMA initiatives are the framework of the open link door, which is helping online banks and retailers in the region to use the power of mobile networks to verify real customers and detect fraudulent activities. The second is the Anti-SCAM (ACAST) working group of Asia Pacific, led by GSMA, launched earlier this year to join mobile network operators and digital platforms in 16 countries in a collaborative struggle against the scams through the exchange of intelligence, public awareness and technical innovation.
GSMA demands coordinated and intersectoral action that combines regulatory leadership, robust cyber security measures and public education campaigns to stop fraud increasing, expand safe connectivity and protect consumer confidence, the basis of the digital economy of the ASAN.
Other news from the digital nation of Gsma Kuala Lumpur Summit
Separately, the new GSMA case studies report “Advance of the industries connected in ASEAN – APAC 5G Industry Study Report 2025” contributed by the GSMA APAC 5G industry community, highlights four live industrial implementations that show an impact of advanced connectivity throughout the region:
- The first 5G MMWAVE SMART factory of Thailand administered by AIS and Alliance Laundry connects more than 300 devices for real -time automation;
- Telkomsel and Huawei's 5G-AI smart port in Indonesia reduces the processing of the five-minute truck to 10 seconds and cuts backup core hardware by 40%;
- · U Mobile and Huawei offer 5G-A without seams on the Penang bridge of 13.5 km of Malaysia, maintaining more than 500 Mbps of average speeds with zero calls and up to 99% energy savings through “0 Bit 0 watts”;
- · The private LTE of XLSMart covers 20 remote mines of indonesia coal, which allows continuous emergency communications, CCTV HD and monitoring of fleets in real time.
The GSMA also announced the winners of the Digital Nation and Digital Leadership Awards. The winners include AIS, Afghan Wireless, Celcomddigi, Frame Motion Studio, Grameenphone, Honor, Singtel, Sarawak Civil Service Digitization Unit, the department of the Prime Minister of Sarawak and U Mobile.
