A recent study by analytics company Elliptic found that cryptocurrency fraud in Southeast Asia has reached industrial proportions, resulting in tens of billions of dollars in losses.

According to a recent report from Elliptic, many cryptocurrency scams are carried out by members of transnational organized crime groups that operate out of specially created “fraud complexes” located throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.

For example, Huione Guarantee, an online marketplace owned by Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group, acts as a sort of clearinghouse with thousands of instant messaging channels and apps, each managed by a separate merchant.

An investigation by Elliptic into the Huione Guarantee website found that some merchants openly offer their clients services to launder stolen crypto assets, sell software and web development tools for creating fraudulent websites, and actively participate in fraudulent schemes.

According to Elliptic experts, over the past three years, virtual services sellers from Southeast Asia have transferred more than $11 billion through cryptocurrency wallets registered on the Huione Guarantee platform.

The analysts clarified that not all transactions mentioned in the report can be classified as fraudulent. However, the available evidence provides “very strong grounds to believe that the majority of transactions are related to illegal activity.”

The emergence of specialized online stores openly offering illegal services is taking crypto scams in Southeast Asia to a new level, according to a report from Elliptic.

Earlier, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) reported that in the first half of the year, the number of cases of fraud involving digital assets increased by 44% compared to January-June last year.