Inside Asia’s expanding web of digital scams and human trafficking

The buttocks of a young man turned purple from repeated beatings while he was hung from the ceiling with handcuffs, a victim’s mother recounted to Voice of America. Such brutal treatment remains a grim reality within scam syndicates operating across several Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

More than 300 victims have been rescued with the assistance of the Global Anti-Scam Organisation. Huang, a Chinese national and one of the organisation's volunteers who chose not to reveal her last name, shared her experiences with FairPlanet.

The issue gained international attention in 2021, as human trafficking cases in Cambodia nearly doubled - a trend that began in 2020 amid the pandemic. The following year, Washington placed Cambodia on its trafficking blacklist, citing corruption and inadequate measures to curb the activity.

During COVID lockdowns, many victims from Greater China and Southeast Asia were lured by online job postings promising lucrative opportunities. These offers included relocation to Southeast Asia, covering flights and accommodation and high monthly salaries with minimal qualifications required.

The flights were real, but upon arrival, "company staffers" confiscated their travel documents and transported them to compounds where they were forced to work as online scammers. Reports indicate that those who resisted were often subjected to beatings or torture.

Thousands of Indians have fallen prey to fraudulent job ads, landing in the grip of Chinese-operated syndicates in Southeast Asia. Many are coerced into working up to 16 hours a day as scammers. The United Nations estimates that over 200,000 individuals have been trafficked to Myanmar and Cambodia to labour in such online scam operations.

Online scam syndicates in the region are estimated to have generated up to USD 37 billion in 2023, targeting victims across East and Southeast Asia. According to an October United Nations report, many of these operations rely on AI-generated visuals, commonly known as deepfakes, to deceive their victims.

Female victims were also trafficked for prostitution, according to Philippine officials involved in rescuing their citizens from these compounds.

These digital crimes include online romance scams, illegal gambling, crypto fraud and more.

Huang herself was once a victim of a digital romance scam. She fell in love with a man she met online and trusted him when he persuaded her to invest USD 150,000 in a project. By the time she realised it was a scam, it was too late. The experience, she said, motivated her to dedicate herself to helping other victims.

Black-box operations

Scamming has become a lucrative business in Cambodia because large amounts of money can be made with minimal costs, Huang explained. She added that police often collaborate with these syndicates, leaving victims in an impossible situation. Even when they build up the courage to report the crime, they are frequently returned to the compound by the very officers meant to protect them.

But things began to change after 2022 when international media coverage and mounting pressure pushed the Cambodian government to take action against human trafficking. A dedicated hotline for victims was established, which, according to Huang, made it easier to contact and assist those seeking to escape these syndicates.

In recent years, Cambodia has become a haven for Chinese fugitives involved in illegal online gambling and human trafficking, driven by the allure of land and tax exemptions offered to Chinese investors under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since Beijing's crackdown on online gambling, human traffickers have reportedly shifted to running cybercrime operations within casinos.

Myanmar, however, remains a significant challenge, Huang noted, as GASO’s efforts to rescue victims are complicated by the country's fraught internal military politics.

"Different divisions in the military control different land in Myanmar so if you report the case to a different division and it’s rival to the one we want to contact, it doesn’t work," she explained.

"So how do we save them? We know that the soldiers are definitely working with the criminals, and the only way out is to pay and befriending the military, but that’s against our own principles. We are stuck."

deep-rooted Corruption

When asked why international pressure has not succeeded in prompting the government to shut down scam syndicates, Huang pointed to one likely reason: profit.

"They bring in a lot of money for these countries, so the government often looks away," she noted. "The international pressure did push them to clear parts of corruption in the police force, but they only save a few victims once in a while to show their 'efforts.' At the end of the day, they need the rings to earn."

To avoid media scrutiny and minimise reports from victims, these syndicates have shifted their recruitment strategies, Huang explained. They now post authentic job ads openly stating the nature of the work - online scams. As many of these companies now offer attractive monthly salaries and regular leave, Huang observed, many individuals are now joining them voluntarily.

Without the media's spotlight on clear cases of human trafficking, digital scams are likely to become even more widespread, she believes.

Image by Arron Choi.