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Criminals appear to be moving cyber-scam centers to vulnerable countries.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) last week warned it had found “indications of scam center activity, including SIM cards and satellite internet devices” at a hotel in Timor-Leste, a nation founded in 2002 and whose gross domestic product is under $2 billion.

UNDOC believes “entities associated with convicted cybercriminals, offshore gambling operators, and triad-linked networks” are responsible for the material found in the hotel, and that they are evidence of shifting behavior by scammers.

“With growing awareness and understanding of scam centers and related criminal activity, law enforcement pressure has intensified across Southeast Asia, making it more difficult for organized crime groups to operate in traditional hotspot areas,” the agency advised. “As a result, syndicates actively create avenues for expanding operations to new jurisdictions with limited experience in scam center responses, including Timor-Leste.”

UNDOC’s warning ...