Kuala lumpur: ASEAN should establish a regional anti-scam intelligence exchange to enable regulators, banks, telecommunications operators, enforcement agencies, and digital platforms to share information rapidly. Axiata Group Bhd Group Chief Business and Technology Officer Thomas Hundt emphasized the necessity of combining different information and network signals to effectively detect and disrupt fraudulent activities.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Hundt proposed that the exchange should involve banks, operators, regulators, law enforcement agencies, technology providers, and platform operators. He highlighted the importance of collaboration and the exchange of information and data points to combat fraudsters effectively. Hundt made these remarks during a panel discussion at the Digital Trust Summit titled 'Strengthening Digital Trust-Policy and Governance Responses to Scams and Fraud,' held in conjunction with M360 ASEAN 2026.
Meanwhile, Erik van der Veen, Head of Office for Malaysia and Indonesia at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), stressed the importance of national anti-scam response centres in coordinating government and industry responses. Van der Veen noted that several ASEAN countries had already established such centres, which could facilitate the exchange of effective practices and lessons learned from different jurisdictions.
Meta Global Director of Messaging and API Partnerships, Pushpendra Singh, advocated for the wider adoption of standardised network application programming interfaces (APIs). Singh argued that this would enable platforms to receive stronger fraud-related signals from telecommunications operators, while also calling for simpler partnership arrangements and a framework to expedite information action, addressing legal and privacy requirements.
Jonathan Turley, Ericsson Director of Government and Policy Advocacy for Southeast Asia, echoed the call for wider 5G adoption and emphasized the need for robust information and communications technology supply-chain security requirements.
The M360 ASEAN 2026 event, organised by the GSMA on September 9 and 10, brings together ministers, regulators, and industry leaders to discuss digital trust, artificial intelligence, resilient infrastructure, and regional digital integration. This event, held for the first time in the ASEAN region and in Malaysia, is endorsed by the Ministry of Communications, with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as the host partner.