GSMA Sends a Call to Action as Telco Scams Rise Across ASEAN

A new report from the GSMA paints a sobering picture of the fraud landscape across the ASEAN region, revealing a dramatic acceleration in consumer scams that places mobile networks at the epicentre of the battle for consumer trust.

The 'ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2025: Victims Rising, Defences Under Strain' reveals that the share of consumers who were scammed has surged from 31% to 45% in just one year.

The escalating threat is by no means a distant problem, it is unfolding directly on the channels that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) manage and facilitate on a daily basis.

For telco leaders, the report serves as both a stark warning and a clear call to action.

As criminals become more sophisticated, MNOs are uniquely positioned to evolve from being a mere conduit for communication into a pivotal guardian of their customers’ digital and financial lives.

The data highlights that, with consumer anxiety at near-universal levels, the operators who step up to the challenge will not only mitigate harm but unlock significant commercial advantages.

Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific, GSMA, says: “Consumer trust is the bedrock of ASEAN’s digital economy. Our latest data reveals a crisis of confidence. People are changing how they behave online – and in some cases, walking away altogether.

"Unless we act decisively and together, we risk losing the momentum that digitalisation has built across Southeast Asia.”

The mobile network is the battleground

The report leaves no doubt that scams are a fundamentally mobile problem. While various channels are exploited, the primary vectors of attack are the core services MNOs provide.

The report states, “Involvement is overwhelmingly mobile and multi-channel: victims most often cite OTT messaging, voice calls and social platforms, with SMS and email still present”.

Voice calls and messaging apps are the most common initial points of contact for scammers, highlighting the urgent need for network-level interventions.

The multi-channel reality means that piecemeal solutions are no longer sufficient. Criminals blend phishing attacks with fake support calls and targeted social engineering, creating a complex web of deceit.

“Defences must be channel-specific, caller display and screening for voice, sender-ID and content controls for SMS, rapid platform escalation for suspicious behaviour on social media and tighter app-to-person guardrails in OTT," the report rightly argues.

MNOs must therefore adopt a holistic security posture that addresses the specific vulnerabilities of each channel they operate.

The MNO opportunity: From conduit to guardian

While the challenges are significant, the report powerfully frames the opportunities available to proactive MNOs. Consumers are not only demanding better protection; they are willing to reward the providers who deliver it.

An overwhelming 81% of respondents said they would switch financial providers for stronger security, indicating that trust is becoming a key market differentiator.

The report identifies several strategic areas where MNOs can take the lead:

1. Harden the hot routes: The priority is to secure the most exploited channels. The report recommends MNOs, “Focus on the channels that matter most: voice and OTT voice/messaging.

Expand verified caller display and screening on risky calls; tighten SMS sender-ID regimes to counter impersonation; scale takedown and escalation pathways with social platforms for pattern recognition of suspicious activity”.

By making it harder for social engineering tactics to succeed at the point of entry, operators can significantly disrupt the scammer’s business model.

2. Share signals, not secrets: Perhaps the most potent opportunity lies in leveraging network intelligence. While privacy concerns remain paramount—with 97% of consumers expressing worry—a clear mandate has emerged for the use of targeted, minimal data signals to prevent fraud.

The report finds that 72% of consumers are comfortable with MNOs sharing limited, purpose-bound signals for verification, a figure that rises to 78% when sharing is limited to suspicious transactions only.

It provides a strong foundation for developing new services. As the report explains: “The practical role for operators is to expose simple yes/no Digital Identity signals, for example, number verification, recent SIM-change flags, device status, coarse location confidence, or call-forwarding state at specific high-risk moments (new-device login, password reset, large transfer, QR payment)”.

These GSMA Open Gateway-style APIs can help banking and fintech partners stop account takeovers without compromising user privacy, turning network data into a powerful, revenue-generating security asset.

Scaling defences and closing the reporting loop

To keep pace with evolving threats, MNOs must look to advanced technology.

Rule-based filters are insufficient against dynamic, AI-driven scam campaigns. “Mobile networks are starting to use AI-driven pattern recognition to spot emerging scam tactics in real time, at a scale manual rules can’t match," the report's authors explain.

By implementing AI at the network edge, operators can detect anomalies and correlate cross-channel campaigns without inspecting message content, thereby enabling a faster and more coordinated ecosystem response.

Ultimately, MNOs play a crucial role in addressing the currently fragmented reporting system.

Victims report scams to a mix of banks, police and platforms, meaning “no single institution sees the full picture, so cases fall through the cracks without coordinated handoffs”.

By integrating workflows with other stakeholders, MNOs can help create a “no-wrong-door” system that ensures every report leads to a fast and auditable incident response, rebuilding consumer confidence.

A mandate for trust

The findings of the GSMA report are unequivocal. The surge in scams across ASEAN presents a profound threat to consumers, but it offers a generational opportunity for telecommunication companies to redefine their role in the digital ecosystem.

Consumers are increasingly demanding more protection and are willing to switch providers to obtain it.

By hardening their networks, leveraging their unique data capabilities responsibly and collaborating across the industry, MNOs can move beyond connectivity to become the trusted enablers of a safer digital economy.

As the report concludes, “The organisations that make protection obvious, accelerate recovery and explain their data use in plain language will reduce losses, limit liability and win share”