Cybercrime shifts toward social engineering and AI-driven fraud

cybercrime mobile fraud identity theft ransomware social engineering

Cybercrime trends are shifting toward social engineering and AI-driven exploitation. In Bhutan, the Royal Bhutan Police reported 159 cyber-related incidents in 2025, with 73 percent involving fraud and forgery. These crimes primarily target individuals through mobile devices and digital platforms rather than attacking computer systems directly.

In Fiji, businesses are facing increased threats from ransomware groups like Akira and Qilin. Criminals are utilizing deepfakes and AI-powered phishing to target privileged users and steal sensitive data. Experts note that the speed of these attacks is accelerating, requiring faster defensive responses.

Technological advancements are also being deployed for defense. Visa has expanded its Visa Vulnerability Agentic Harness (VVAH) to include AI-powered remediation and validation, aiming to reduce the time between vulnerability discovery and resolution. Similarly, Google Cloud and Mandiant have introduced frameworks like the Automated Vulnerability Discovery Harness (AVDH) to automate complex vulnerability discovery using agentic orchestration.