A lucrative sector is spreading fast as criminal enterprises force abused and trafficked workers to cheat othersA Chinese court last month <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/30/china-court-sentences-11-people-to-death-over-alleged-role-in-family-run-myanmar-scam-operations”>sentenced 11 people to death over their roles in a illegal scam empire along the border with Myanmar. But it won’t end a noxious multibillion-dollar industry that devastates the lives of two sets of victims. The first are those cheated out of money, often by people posing as potential romantic or business partners in what are known as <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/29/everything-is-fake-how-global-gangs-are-using-uk-shell-companies-in-multi-million-pound-crypto-scams”>”pig”‘butchering” schemes. The second are those who are forced to cheat them, working in conditions amounting to modern slavery.The recent study, <a href=”https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3234-scam?srsltid=AfmBOoorfAYXzaI6mtuG4EI8j0BgYl-CmJoY_5BTQgs8WeOQ9IXFgEbz”>Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds, by Ivan Franceschini, Ling;Li and Mark Bo, paints a terrifying picture of the sector. Workers are trafficked into heavily guarded, prison-like compounds, where they are routinely abused and tortured for failing to meet targets, or extorted for ransoms. Others take the jobs willingly, but find that they cannot repay ruinous charges for food and accommodation. Their work requires them to be connected to the outside world round the clock, yet they are too terrified to seek help because of the surveillance and violence they endure.<em><strong>Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our<a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/tone/letters”> letters section, please <a href=”mailto:guardian.letters@theguardian.com?body=Please%20include%20your%20name,%20full%20postal%20address%20and%20phone%20number%20with%20your%20letter%20below.%20Letters%20are%20usually%20published%20with%20the%20author%27s%20name%20and%20city/town/village.%20The%20rest%20of%20the%20information%20is%20for%20verification%20only%20and%20to%20contact%20you%20where%20necessary.”>click here.</strong></em> <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/13/the-guardian-view-on-the-online-scam-industry-authorities-must-not-forget-that-perpetrators-are-often-victims-too”>Continue reading…
First seen on theguardian.com
