AI-Powered Crime Gangs: When Technology Meets the Underworld
AI-Powered Crime Gangs: When Technology Meets the Underworld
Forget cyberpunk dystopias — AI is now the underworld’s favorite crime boss, and it’s coming for your wallet.
In a rapidly shifting criminal landscape, organized crime syndicates in Asia are leveraging AI, cryptocurrency, and messaging platforms like Telegram to expand their operations.
A UN report highlights the emergence of a "criminal service economy," where underground markets offer AI tools for fraud, money laundering, and deepfakes. These new technologies have turbocharged the scale and sophistication of criminal networks, making traditional crime-fighting methods look archaic by comparison.
Criminals are using AI to automate complex tasks such as coding malware, laundering money, and running social engineering scams. Deepfake-related crimes, for instance, have skyrocketed by over 1,500% between 2022 and 2023, fueled by AI that generates realistic but fraudulent images and videos. The number of deepfake ads on platforms like Telegram surged by 600% in just six months of 2024, enabling crime groups to deceive with increasing precision.
Cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins like Tether (USDT), are facilitating these illicit activities. Nearly 45% of all illicit cryptocurrency transactions occur on the TRON blockchain, with stablecoins enabling shorter scam cycles and faster laundering processes. The report reveals that the average duration of scams has dropped from 271 days in 2020 to just 42 in the first half of 2024, as criminals pivot to faster, more targeted operations.
Messaging apps like Telegram serve as the backbone of these operations, offering a relatively unregulated space for criminals to buy, sell, and coordinate their activities. Despite recent efforts by governments to crack down—such as arrests and forced removal of content—these platforms remain a haven for illegal activities, with minimal accountability.
As these crime networks grow more technologically savvy, the question looms: can governments adapt fast enough, or will organized crime stay one step ahead in the digital age?
Read the full article on The Register.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the criminal service economy mentioned in the UN report?
It refers to underground markets where criminal groups offer AI-powered tools and services for hire, including fraud automation, money laundering, and deepfake generation. This service-based model allows less sophisticated criminals to access advanced technology, effectively industrializing organized crime and making it more scalable and accessible across networks in Asia and beyond.
Link to this questionHow much have deepfake crimes increased recently?
Deepfake-related crimes have skyrocketed by over 1,500% between 2022 and 2023. Additionally, deepfake ads on platforms like Telegram surged by 600% in just six months of 2024, showing how rapidly AI-generated fraudulent images and videos are being weaponized by criminal networks to deceive victims with increasing precision.
Link to this questionWhy are stablecoins like Tether important to organized crime?
Stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) facilitate faster laundering and shorter scam cycles. Nearly 45% of all illicit cryptocurrency transactions occur on the TRON blockchain. This has helped reduce the average duration of scams from 271 days in 2020 to just 42 days in the first half of 2024, enabling quicker, more targeted criminal operations.
Link to this questionWhy is Telegram significant for organized crime networks?
Telegram serves as the backbone of many criminal operations because it offers a relatively unregulated space where criminals can buy, sell, and coordinate activities. Despite government crackdowns involving arrests and content removal, the platform remains a haven for illegal activity due to minimal accountability and enforcement.
Link to this question💡 We're entering a world where intelligence is synthetic, reality is augmented, and the rules are being rewritten in front of our eyes.
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Dr. Mark van Rijmenam
Dr. Mark van Rijmenam is The Digital Speaker, a world-leading futurist and global AI keynote speaker who helps leaders decide what AI, and the technologies that follow it, mean for their business. He speaks to leadership teams at their retreats and to conference audiences worldwide, and his WAVE framework gives them a way of deciding that they keep using long after he has left the room. His Intelligence Age Scorecard measures how ready an organization is across the four WAVE pillars.
He holds a PhD from the University of Technology Sydney, is a Certified Speaking Professional and Global Speaking Fellow, and ranks among the world’s top futurists on the Global Gurus list (#1 in 2025, #3 in 2026). Salesforce named him one of its 16 leading AI voices. He has written six books, most recently Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change, writes the Synthetic Minds newsletter on Substack, and founded Futurwise. Talk to his digital twin on WhatsApp: +1 (830) 463-6967.
