Phishing most damaging form of cybercrime, says INTERPOL

Cyber-scams such as phishing have emerged as the most widespread and financially damaging, with 33 per cent of countries reporting over 10,000 cases, according to an INTERPOL report released on Wednesday.

Releasing its Asia and South Pacific Cyberthreat Assessment Report on Wednesday, INTERPOL revealed a dramatic increase in cybercrime across the region driven by rapid digitalisation, new technologies and increasingly organised criminal networks. The report draws on information provided by 18 INTERPOL member countries across the Asia and South Pacific region, as well as contributions from private sector partners, operational case studies and analysis of emerging cyber threats, INTERPOL said. The report, covering the period from January 2024 to March 2025, found that more than half of the countries surveyed reported cybercrime now accounted for 30 per cent of all crimes recorded nationally.

Neal Jetton, INTERPOL Cybercrime Director, said: "The findings in this report highlight a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape across Asia and the South Pacific, where cybercriminals are leveraging artificial intelligence, ransomware-as-a-service models and sophisticated social engineering techniques on an industrial scale.