ASEAN-wide Intelligence Exchange Mooted To Combat Scams - Forum

By Nabilah Saleh

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- ASEAN should establish a regional anti-scam intelligence exchange to enable regulators, banks, telecommunications operators, enforcement agencies, and digital platforms to share information rapidly.

Axiata Group Bhd Group Chief Business and Technology Officer Thomas Hundt said individual organisations possessed different information and network signals, but these must be brought together to detect and disrupt fraudulent activities more effectively.

The proposed exchange should involve banks, operators, regulators, law enforcement agencies, technology providers and platform operators, he noted.

“The fraudsters are always ahead of us, frankly speaking, so we need to bring our intelligence together to fight them. Collaboration is a must, and the exchange of information and data points is a must.

“The exchange should involve banks, operators, regulators, law enforcement agencies, technology providers and platform operators,” he said during a panel discussion at the Digital Trust Summit titled “Strengthening Digital Trust-Policy and Governance Responses to Scams and Fraud” held in conjunction with M360 ASEAN 2026 here, today.

Meanwhile, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Head of Office (UNODC) for Malaysia and Indonesia Erik van der Veen said national anti-scam response centres were fundamental to coordinating government and industry responses.

He said several ASEAN countries had established such centres, which could serve as channels for exchanging effective practices and lessons from different jurisdictions.

“Ideally, we would have them across the region,” said Van der Veen, who is also UNODC liaison to ASEAN.

According to Meta Global Director of Messaging and API Partnerships Pushpendra Singh, wider adoption of standardised network application programming interfaces, or APIs, would allow platforms to receive stronger fraud-related signals from telecommunications operators.

He said the region also needed simpler partnership arrangements and a framework that would allow information to be acted upon quickly while addressing legal and privacy requirements.

“If you are waiting for a perfect solution, it won’t happen, because by that time billions and trillions will be lost to scams and fraud,” he said.

Ericsson Director of Government and Policy Advocacy for Southeast Asia Jonathan Turley also called for wider 5G adoption and strong information and communications technology supply-chain security requirements.

M360 ASEAN 2026, organised by the GSMA on Sept 9 and 10, brings together ministers, regulators and industry leaders to discuss digital trust, artificial intelligence, resilient infrastructure and regional digital integration.

The event, held for the first time in the ASEAN region and in Malaysia, is endorsed by the Ministry of Communications, with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as host partner.

-- BERNAMA