Nearly half of reported scam incidents across Southeast Asia remain unresolved, undermining digital trust and threatening the region's digital economy ambitions, according to two new GSMA reports. The findings reveal that 45% of reported scam cases in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are left unresolved despite consumers taking more steps to protect themselves.
The GSMA ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 found that nearly one in ten (8%) consumers surveyed reported being scammed in the previous 12 months. Among scam victims, 68% lost money and, of those, 82% recovered none of their losses, with only 10% recovering all losses. Consumers who have experienced scams are more than twice as likely to switch accounts or service providers than those who have not been affected.
"Access alone is no longer enough," said Julian Gorman, head of Asia Pacific at the GSMA, speaking at the Digital Trust Summit. "As ASEAN's digital economies become more sophisticated, people must have confidence that digital services are secure, reliable and accountable. The findings from these reports show that digital trust is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for digital participation, innovation and growth."
The report highlights that messaging apps are now the most common channel through which consumers encounter scams, accounting for 41% of scam experiences. Scam activity is increasingly shifting towards investment, cryptocurrency, online shopping and job scams where consumers are persuaded to send money themselves. Additionally, 96% of consumers worry about being scammed or hacked, and nearly 9 in 10 consumers recognised at least one form of AI being used in scams.
The second report, Digital Nations 2026: Building Trusted Digital Ecosystems in ASEAN, argues that trust has become a strategic enabler of ASEAN's digital future as countries advance digital economy strategies, AI adoption, digital government programmes and cross-border digital integration.
The report notes that emerging technologies are transforming the nature of digital trust itself, with AI enabling increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks, deepfakes, voice cloning and digital impersonation.
The Digital Nations 2026 report identifies four interconnected foundations of digital trust: identity (the ability to verify people and organisations in digital environments), communications (confidence in the authenticity and integrity of digital interactions), resilient networks (infrastructure and cybersecurity capabilities that keep digital services available and secure), and collective intelligence (the creation, sharing and use of trusted information to strengthen security, resilience and integrity of digital systems).
"Countries that build confidence in digital infrastructure, services and institutions will be better placed to realise their digital ambitions," said Gorman.
"This will require governments, mobile operators, digital platforms, financial institutions and other stakeholders to work together to verify identities, authenticate communications and prevent fraud before harm occurs." Julian Gorman
The reports emphasise that while mobile operators have traditionally been viewed as connectivity providers, they increasingly contribute to all four trust foundations through identity verification, network security, fraud prevention, authentication services and trusted intelligence-sharing initiatives.
Deeper regional collaboration can amplify the impact of national initiatives, helping countries learn from one another, strengthen resilience and build greater confidence in ASEAN's digital transformation.
