内容摘要：File - A collection of 208 Citibikes are parked adjacent to the 666 Fifth Avenue building, in New York. At the dawn of 2024, also known as New Year’s resolution season, there are lots of small, easily achievable ways to lead more climate friendly lives. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

File - A collection of 208 Citibikes are parked adjacent to the 666 Fifth Avenue building, in New York. At the dawn of 2024, also known as New Year’s resolution season, there are lots of small, easily achievable ways to lead more climate friendly lives. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

It is not clear whether such terms would be part of a deal with the United States.BANGKOK (AP) — Transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their lucrative scam operations across the globe in response to increased crackdowns by authorities, according to a U.N. report issued on Monday.

For several years, scam compounds have proliferated in Southeast Asia, especially in border areas of, shifting operations from site to site to stay a step ahead of the police.More recently, scam centers that have bilked victims out of billions of dollars through false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes are now being reported operating as far afield as Africa and Latin America.

Asian crime syndicates have been expanding operations deeper into remote areas with lax law enforcement that are vulnerable to the influx, according to the report issued by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime or UNODC. The report is titled “Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centers, Underground Banking and Illicit Online Marketplaces in Southeast Asia.”“This reflects both a natural expansion as the industry grows and seeks new ways and places to do business, but also a hedging against future risks should disruption continue and intensify in Southeast Asia,” Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC’s acting regional representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.

UNODC estimates that hundreds of industrial-scale scam centers generate just under $40 billion in annual profits.

The trend to hedge beyond the region has been consistent with continued reports of crackdowns targeting Asian-led scam centers that have been found operating in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and select Pacific islands, as well as related money laundering, people trafficking and recruitment services discovered in Europe, North America and South America.This go-round, the trio is

, all scheduled to be on court Sunday in fourth-round action at Roland-Garros.“Yeah, about time,” joked

, who advanced Saturday and was one of five U.S. women in the round of 16,, Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova and Hailey Baptiste. “It’s exciting to see. Obviously you want to see your fellow countrymen do well on the other side, and I’m always actually keeping up with them quite a lot. So I hope they keep it going.”