Cyber crime syndicates raked in as much as $37 billion last year and are intensifying operations across Southeast Asia despite mounting law enforcement efforts, the United Nations said.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Powerful criminal networks in Southeast Asia extensively use the messaging app Telegram which has enabled a fundamental change in the way organised crime can conduct large-scale illicit activity, the United Nations said in a report on Monday.

The findings are the latest in a series of accusations implicating Telegram, whose CEO was recently arrested in France for allegedly allowing criminal activity to flourish on the platform. After the arrest — which led Telegram to agree to share some user data with law enforcement — several extremist groups moved to a new platform,

UN report says most of estimated $18 billion to $37 billion lost to cyber scam syndicates last year across East and Southeast Asia were stolen by groups based in countries of lower Mekong River

Asian stocks rallied and the dollar reached a fresh seven-week peak on the yen on Monday after blowout U.S. labour market data dispelled fears of a recession and spurred a sharp paring of rate-cut bets.

TOKYO >> Asian stocks rallied and the dollar reached a fresh seven-week peak on the yen on Monday after blowout U.S. labor market data dispelled fears of a recession and spurred a sharp paring of rate-cut bets.

Asian equity markets saw a strong rally on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 (.N225) leading the charge, rising 2%, as robust US labor market data boosted investor sentiment and pared back expectations of significant rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.