Google’s APAC MD praises GSE partnership as platform 2.6.0 launches with upgraded AI tool, GSE Compass; new research draws on 28 million signals to challenge assumptions about who scammers target.
The Global Signal Exchange (GSE) took centre-stage at ScamReady ASEAN in Kuala Lumpur, as governments, internet platforms, financial institutions and civil society gathered to address what the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has now identified as a more profitable criminal activity than drug trafficking.
Powered by Oxford Information Labs (OXIL), the non-profit GSE brings together public and private sector organisations worldwide to share abuse data and threat signals in real time, enabling faster disruption of criminal activity. The GSE allows accredited members – including technology leaders such as Google, Meta and Microsoft – to pool intelligence and act at speed and scale. This global collaboration is designed to make online scams less profitable and less effective.
Ram Papatla, Google’s MD for APAC, gave a public endorsement of the GSE partnership at ScamReady ASEAN, stating that “GSE helps Google react fast” to combat scams and fraud. One delegate noted that flagging URLs through the platform means “within seconds we’re starting to protect billions of people.”
Lucien Taylor, Chief Technology Officer at Oxford Information Labs (OXIL) and GSE co-founder, gave a half-hour demonstration of the platform including its league tables and GSE Compass, the new AI-powered natural language querying tool. He shared a panel with Andre Ng of GovTech Singapore, the first government body to join GSE, and GSE co-founder Jean-Jacques Sahel of Google.
GSE CEO Emily Taylor shared new market trends from the Oxford Information Labs research team, “Rethinking Scam Prevention”, drawing on approximately 28 million domain-based signals from the GSE. The findings challenge common assumptions: working-age populations appear to be the most frequently targeted group, using broad scattergun approaches, and situational vulnerabilities such as financial need, stress and bereavement are more commonly exploited than permanent characteristics. The paper proposes a safeguarding framework that brings scam and fraud into the remit of health, social care and other practitioners across the ecosystem.
Emily also presented an early-stage regional threat analysis using GSE’s ASN league tables and GSE Compass queries. While the data sample has limitations, the initial findings offer some useful pointers. Several ASEAN member states, including Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Timor-Leste, have no large-scale ASNs in GSE data, which may reflect gaps in digital infrastructure rather than an absence of threat activity. The data suggests that in more mature markets like Singapore, attackers tend to use global cloud infrastructure, while in emerging markets, operations may be routed through neighbouring countries or US-based registrars. Phishing appears to be the dominant regional threat, with national profiles varying: Singapore facing cloud-hosted phishing, the Philippines what looks like a more targeted malware threat, and Vietnam and Indonesia a mix of both. Further analysis will be needed to draw firm conclusions.
Alongside the summit, GSE released platform version 2.6.0, introducing an upgraded AI tool, GSE Compass with multi-country query capability, smart regions and new Views dashboards.
“ASEAN member states identified information sharing across borders and sectors as their top priority – which is precisely what the GSE is built to do,” said Emily Taylor, CEO of OXIL. “The regional data we presented shows where some of the pressure points may be and the kind of targeted interventions that could make a difference at national level. There are weaknesses in the ecosystem that can be designed out, and we are working with partners to explore exactly that.”
“GovTech Singapore joined GSE because they understand the value of shared intelligence at speed, and that model is now being replicated across the region,” adds Lucien Taylor, co-founder of OXIL. “GSE Compass gives any analyst, regardless of technical background, the ability to interrogate over a billion data points in natural language. The barrier to deriving actionable insight has dropped significantly.”
Emily comments: “Our international work over the last month reminds us all that fighting scams is a collaborative effort. It requires the internet industry to cooperate with business, civil society and government to take on bad actors and protect users. A key part of that fight is sharing abuse data and related information (signals). The Global Signal Exchange is open to anyone with a legitimate interest in, or ability to act against, online scams. Join us and be part of the change in creating a better future.”