Timor-Leste has approved a national plan to combat online scam networks, organized cybercrime and human trafficking, following exposure of several suspected digital fraud operations in the Catholic-majority Southeast Asian nation.
The Integrated National Plan for 2026-2031 was adopted on Aug. 5, state news agency Tatoli reported.
Proposed by Interior Minister Francisco da Costa Guterres, the plan addresses threats to national security, economic stability, digital sovereignty, the financial system, and Timor-Leste's international reputation.
It aims to strengthen coordination among intelligence agencies, security forces, criminal investigation bodies, financial authorities, and border control agencies, and to develop specialized technical capacities and expand regional and international cooperation.
According to the official statement cited by Tatoli, the Interministerial Security Commission will handle political coordination and oversight of the plan's implementation.
A permanent inter-institutional coordination mechanism reporting directly to the prime minister – the National Center for Coordination, Assessment, and Combating Transnational Threats (CN-CAT) – will be established.
The plan will be implemented in three phases between 2026 and 2031.
The first phase will focus on setting up CN-CAT, defining operational procedures, assessing national capacity, and reviewing the legal framework.
The second phase will strengthen institutional technical capacity, introduce technological systems, develop joint operations, and deepen international cooperation.
By 2031, the government expects to consolidate national capacity, evaluate results, and update the plan to ensure a sustainable, coordinated response to transnational threats.
The move follows a series of raids on suspected online scam centers in and around Dili.
ABC News reported on July 15 that police had raided three heavily secured call centers over five days, arresting 253 workers and bringing the total number detained over the previous three weeks to 314.
Those arrested were mainly Chinese, Indonesian, and Cambodian nationals, who were charged with money laundering, criminal association, and illegal online gaming.
The ABC report said that police had not disclosed the specific scam methods used in the Timor-Leste cases but noted that similar scam compounds in other Southeast Asian countries have used scripted calls and other tactics to defraud overseas targets.
On July 23, security think tank Fundasaun Mahein warned that the recent arrests signaled a new phase of transnational organized crime in Timor-Leste.
In September 2025, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that Timor-Leste's Special Administrative Region of Oecusse-Ambeno appeared to have been targeted by transnational organized crime groups through criminal foreign direct investment.
Source: https://www.ucanews.com/news/timor-leste-approves-plan-to-fight-online-scam-networks/11466