TelSoc Online Event: Agit Nagpal (Aetha Consulting),
John Laughlin and Thomas Pickett

Can telcos really stop scammers? The fight against foreign criminal gangs

Wednesday, 24 September 2025 – from 5.00 pm AEST

Note: The presentation begins at 5.00 pm AEST, not at the usual lunchtime.

Just a reminder that TelSoc's next online webinar is on Wednesday, 24 September 2025, from 5.00 p.m. with Agit Nagpal, Partner of Aetha Consulting, and his team, John Laughlin and Thomas Pickett.  They will share with us insights gained from their work in the telecom sector on scams and scammers in Asia and lessons for Australia.   

Scam operations in Southeast Asia have evolved into highly organised criminal enterprises, often run from guarded “scam compounds” where many workers are themselves victims of employment scams and trafficking. From these centres, gangs orchestrate sophisticated “pig butchering” schemes, building the trust of victims before luring them into fake investment opportunities. Annual revenues are estimated in the tens of billions of dollars, giving these networks the resources to corrupt officials and resist law enforcement action. This session will explore the measures implemented by governments, telecoms regulators and operators to counter these scammers, and the challenges posed by complex, cross-border scam networks.

As with all TelSoc online events, the presentation will be followed by a Q&A session in which TelSoc members and industry colleagues will be able to raise questions and issues – and get some answers. Agit and his team have had considerable experience with scamming activity and prevention and will be able to provide insightful analysis about how various scams work and how they can be and have been disrupted. It is a topic that affects us all, so the presentation and the Q&A session will be well worth your while.

About Agit Nagpal, John Laughlin and Thomas Pickett

Agit Nagpal has been working in the telecoms industry for 30 years, advising fixed and mobile operators, regulators and government bodies, and other relevant stakeholders on a wide range of commercial, technical, and regulatory issues. He has led numerous high-profile regulatory studies and has extensive international regulatory experience, working for prominent industry bodies such as the European Commission, GSMA, IMDA and Ofcom.

John Laughlin has 25 years of experience in the regulation of communications and other critical infrastructure sectors. From 2013 to 2024, he served as a Regulatory Principal at Telstra. In that role, he worked extensively with governments, regulators, and other stakeholders on a range of policy and regulatory challenges. He chaired the cross-industry Communications Alliance working group that developed the enforceable industry code requiring Australian telecommunications providers to block and trace the origin of scam calls and SMS.

Thomas Pickett has supported players in the telecoms industry across Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. He has assisted in the development of key national regulations and helped operators to respond to consultations on a broad range of regulatory topics.

Please join us and Agit Nagpal, John Laughlin and Thomas Pickett
on 24 September 2025.

Registration process:

1. Click on the website telsoc.org/events and select the event “Can Telcos Really Stop Scammers?”. Click the “Book a Seat” button and click on “Book” in the pop-up window.
2. You will be asked to login (if you are not already).  If you are a TelSoc member, login in and your booking will be confirmed.  You will receive a confirmatory email.
3. If you are not a current financial member, you will be invited to join by creating a new account.  Please consider doing so.  The objectives of TelSoc and benefits of joining are set out elsewhere on the website. at Membership | Telsoc.
4. If you are not a financial member and do not wish to join right now, or if you are having any difficulty registering, please send your name and email contact to leith.campbell@telsoc.org and he will register you manually – provided he hears from you before 5 pm on 23 September 2025.