Recently the Myanmar military raided KK Park, one of the most well-known scam compounds at the Thai border. Sadly, only one of many. Troops demolished some of the structures that make up the huge compound and the government declared it closed. But the leaders fled and disappeared into the jungle along with approx. 1,500 laborers. It’s likely many of those are victims of a scam themselves. Lured in with false promises and then trapped in forced labor.
A global crime wave with victims on both sides of the screen
Online scammers have robbed victims around the world out of billions of dollars, according to a recent United Nations report. Using false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes they lure victims to send money by convincing them of the sincerity of their offers. But evidence shows that behind the computer screen, there is often another victim. One who fell for the offer of a good job but found themselves instead forced under threat of violence to scam.
According to ABC, a 2023 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported:
It’s estimated that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar may be held in situations where they are forced to work on online scams, with another 100,000 people in Cambodia.
And just like the scams they run, the criminal masterminds don’t discriminate against who they traffic. After this latest raid, forced labor victims from India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Kenya, and other countries made their way to support centers across the Thai border. Around 50 South Koreans were repatriated from Cambodia recently, another scam location hotbed.
Why the criminal networks keep expanding
US prosecutors recently brought an indictment against a high-profile Chinese Cambodian businessman. He’s been charged with defrauding people through a massive criminal network. Prosecutors claim his organization scammed 250 Americans out of millions of dollars. But while indictments and compound raids are nice, much more is needed to really move the needle on this exploding criminal industry.
Jay Kritiya, the coordinator of the Civil Society Network for Victim Assistance in Human Trafficking stated:
If we only rescue the victims, and don’t arrest anybody, especially the Chinese mafia and those transnational syndicates, then there will be no point.
KK Park was just one of dozens scam centers along the Thai Myanmar border. And tellingly, one of hundreds across Southeast Asia. They began as part of a casino boom that mushroomed across Southeast Asia. In 2021 alone, The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime counted more than 340 licensed and non-licensed casinos in the area. But despite recent government efforts to free trafficked workers and raids that supposedly shut down a few large compounds, activists say the main culprits are still at large. Sadly, like a game of “whack-a-mole”, as one center is closed, just as fast new scam centers are popping up both in Southeast Asia and across the world. Until more arrests are made and criminals prosecuted, the scam trafficking train will keep rolling.
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