Introduction and the Scale of the Problem
"There is a quiet explosion taking place in Southeast Asia, a vice-like grip of hidden fraud factories where hundreds of thousands of scammers are targeting millions of people online. It's lucrative, brutal, and we're going undercover to show you what it's like from the inside for the very first time.
At this present moment, the scam centers and the trafficking for forced criminality could possibly be the absolute worst human trafficking event that we've come to know. It's not slowing down, it's not lessening, it's growing, and it's growing at an exponential rate.
We're on our way to Bavet in Cambodia, a place we've been told is a new hub for scams. Some join them willingly, lured by the promise of big salaries. (1) Others are trafficked, trapped into cyber slavery, and some tortured for failing to meet targets. (2) We know the compounds are highly guarded and secretive, and we believe the only way we'll infiltrate one is if we pretend we want to work in one. We've been reaching out to recruiters today, and we've just had a call from one who says they're willing to meet to discuss possible work. We're going to see what they have to say. They are surprisingly unguarded and unfiltered."
1. Myanmar Returns First Batch of Chinese Scam Workers to Thailand - The Irrawaddy
2. Southeast Asia: Torture rooms and karaoke bars in gang-run 'scam farms'
Meeting the Recruiters and Understanding the Scam
"The scam: pig butchering, tricking victims to fork out more and more money before going in for the kill. What kind of work can we do for you?
Maybe, maybe model? And the second?
Welcome.
And the salary in here is more. All the same, alike as to people who invest. Nobody gets arrested. But the police won't talk to anybody. The police? Yeah. No, I never see the police coming. Fine.
Scammers themselves rarely talk, but this man, who we're calling Poomjai, has agreed to lift the lid on a murky world.
*Testimony in Combodian
Dusty road. We managed to find the building where Poomjai says he was electrocuted and, just a few months ago, nearly died trying to flee after being accused of stealing.
*Testimony in Combodian
We tried to speak with staff, but no one would talk. That night, the recruiters get back in touch. They've arranged for us to do a job interview. We're met at a casino and driven to a compound. Were then asked to sit down with the man they called the boss, the head of HR, and two other employees."
The Interview and Inside the Scam Rooms
"You would have to know what job we are doing.
There I go.
Yeah. Can you explain? Mm. It in that way you know what? Mm. How much does the person that earns the most get? Do you get trained here or? Yeah, get trained here. Training to work. He is a master. He is the guy with appearance to kill the client, like billions of money.
Next, they show us the accommodation. Then we're exposed to something we thought we'd never see: the scam rooms.
Yeah.
There's people with lots of phones, having multiple conversations with victims online. We contacted the compound after our secret filming and the Cambodian government. Neither responded to our requests for comment."
The Human Cost and Conclusion
"Across the border in Thailand, you can see the cruel cost of business. This is the funeral for Chiao, a young man who died falling from this compound in Cambodia. His family believe he was pushed.
*Testimony in Thai
But hundreds of thousands of people are working in scam centers across the region, a dynamic that trades on desperation, an industry ruled by greed and one that is only getting bigger. Cordella Lynch, Sky News, Cambodia."
Source: Sky News. (2024, October 18). Going undercover to expose life inside a scam centre - “It’s a fraud industry” [Video]. YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBAWOP9uheo