Crypto Tracking Firm Says Scam Gangs Are Switching to AI Chatbots

Scam gangs in Southeast Asia are starting to use AI chatbots in place of human workers. That is what Jonno Newman of crypto tracking firm TRM Labs told BitPinas at the Token2049 conference. He says a gang no longer needs to speak a victim's language to target them.

What changed

Newman is APAC Head of Deployment Strategy at TRM Labs. He said organized scam groups in the region have long worked from large physical compounds, historically fueled by forced labor and human trafficking. Those compounds ran manual "pig-butchering" scams, a type of crypto investment fraud, with big human workforces.

Now, he said, "we're seeing them use more agentic workflows where they've got chatbots instead of people." In his words, someone who does not speak Mandarin can still target Mandarin-speaking countries. The same goes for English.

What it could mean

Newman wonders whether this will break up the big compounds into smaller, isolated scam hubs. He hopes that would mean less human trafficking, since the compounds usually start with trafficking victims. He framed this as a possibility, not a trend already confirmed.

He also pointed to a Philippine example. Illegal gambling rings have disguised their merchant profiles on the QR Ph payment system as bakeries or hair salons to move cash without being noticed. TRM Labs mainly tracks activity on blockchains, but Newman said that as more people in Southeast Asia move to stablecoins, that money becomes easier to trace. Stablecoins are digital tokens built to hold a steady value.

How stolen funds get frozen

TRM Labs runs the Beacon Network, which tries to catch stolen crypto as it passes through middle wallets. Newman described how it works. If TRM tags the funds and they reach an exchange within two or three hops, and that exchange belongs to the network, the exchange and the investigator get an email. The funds can then be held and frozen.

The interview text available here cuts off in the middle of his point about reporting three days late. The clear message is that timing matters.

What to do

• Report a scam or hack to law enforcement right away. Newman called speed and timing critical.
• Before any attack, spread your funds out. Newman called diversification one of the best steps.
• Do not wait to see if the money comes back. Funds can be frozen only while they are still moving.