China’s cyberscam crackdown pushed syndicates to target Americans, analysts say

Criminal syndicates increasingly turned from targeting Chinese nationals to Americans after Beijing’s 2023 crackdown on online scams in Southeast Asia, analysts said on Wednesday, triggering a global game of “whack-a-mole”.“China has a huge advantage and a head start in terms of trying to protect its own citizens from scams compared to the US,” said Sue-Lin Wong, who hosts the Scam Inc. podcast, adding that it is “terrible for Americans who are losing a lot of money”.In recent years, Southeast Asia’s cyberscam industry has grown rapidly, with criminal syndicates initially targeting Chinese speakers before expanding globally to prey on victims around the world.