The U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission issued an update warning that China-linked transnational scam centers, often operating from Southeast Asia, are increasingly leveraging AI and hyper-personalized social engineering to target U.S. victims. The report calls for stepped-up bilateral and multilateral action to disrupt call-center networks, money-laundering channels, and recruitment pipelines.

The Commission’s March 5, 2026 update documents an evolution in transnational scam operations tied to China-origin actors and diaspora-linked networks operating across Southeast Asia. Investigators observed growing use of AI to automate and hyper-personalize social-engineering tactics—synthesizing background data, tailoring scripts, and scaling voice/agent interactions—making traditional detection and victim recovery more difficult. The report stresses that these centers exploit offshore call infrastructures, rapid funds-exfiltration techniques, layered money-laundering channels, and recruitment pipelines that feed skilled operators into scam ecosystems. Law-enforcement and victim-support mechanisms are strained by cross-border evidence collection, jurisdictional gaps, and technologically amplified deception. The Commission urges U.S. agencies to intensify bilateral cooperation with affected states, expand multilateral disruption of financial rails and payment intermediaries, and coordinate public-private information-sharing with telecommunication and platform providers. It recommends enhanced sanctions and targeted disruption of recruitment and logistics nodes, plus increased funding for victim recovery programs and technical assistance to regional partners to degrade the operational bases of these AI-enabled scam networks.