Online fraud has long since been a global problem, with the Internet allowing people to be located anywhere in the world and pretend to be someone they’re not. It’s a billion-dollar industry, and organized crime groups are cashing in as they operate massive scam centers in areas where they already have a foothold into other illegal activity.

Scam Centers

A scam center is an operation run by a criminal organization for the purpose of committing Internet fraud on a large scale through various online scams. Scam compound, scam park, fraud factory, or fraud center are other names for these scam centers. These compounds, many of which are being operated in Myanmar, Loas, and Cambodia, are controlled by Chinese organized crime gangs, and are responsible for stealing tens of billions of dollars per year from people around the world.

The scam center focuses on certain types of scams such as romance fraud and investment scams,  also known as “pig butchering”, where a scammer will lure someone into a fake romantic relationship and entice them to place their money in cryptocurrency platforms being operated by the scammers. Scammers also run sextortion and fake-friend scams, and workers spend their days sending text messages to potential victims with the hopes that someone will respond and a conversation can be started.

In the last several years these compounds have risen out of casinos and illegal gambling that had been in operation until Covid-19 curtailed much of the travel in these countries. Losing a source of income, the crime groups transitioned into running Internet scam centers.

Victims

There are two types of victims associated with these scam centers. The first type is the person looking for an opportunity for a better life. When opportunity beckons and the promise of a lucrative job offer overseas is presented to them, it appears too good to pass up. This is especially true for someone who lives in an economically impoverished country with minimal job prospects. However, realty sets in upon arrival in their new country, and they quickly find themselves forced to work in scam centers and take part in fraudulent activity.

The second type of victim is the person who was lured into a romance fraud by someone they thought was real. That victim has all of the feelings and emotions for their partner just like there would be in any relationship, except that it’s not a real relationship, it’s all part of the scam.

After the relationship reaches a level where the victim trusts the other person, there is a request for money, either to help the other person directly as in the form of a loan, or they are enticed to make a cryptocurrency investment that turns out be a fraud. Others may become the victim of sextortion after sharing intimate photos which are then used as blackmail when the scammer threatens to publish them if money is not paid.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is rampant in these countries, and many of the workers in the scam centers are being held against their will, having been lured there with the promise of a lucrative job opportunity in another country such as Thailand. When the prospective employee arrives in Thailand, his passport is taken and he is smuggled over the border into a neighboring country, such as Myanmar, and forced to work in one of the numerous scam compounds.

The conditions in these scam centers are horrendous, with limited bathroom facilities, cramped sleeping quarters, and barely enough food to keep the workers going. Workers are forced to work long hours, 14 – 16 hours a day or more, for six days a week, where they are given a phone or a computer and told to contact as many people as possible. All day they are forced to take part in these scams. Fear and coercion are used to keep workers on line. Quotas must be met, and those who fail to steal enough money to meet their quota will have to deal with the consequences such as such as being locked in a cell and physically abused.

Things to Consider

The next time you receive a random text with a simple message asking how you are doing, or one that informs you your package can’t be delivered, or you’ve won a prize, consider where it may be coming from. If you receive a friend request on Facebook from someone you don’t know, be skeptical. If you are using a dating app and the people who reach out to you appear too good to be true, claim to have a job that requires them to be out of the country, asks you to send money or gift cards, or invest in a ‘sure thing’, realize that more than likely you’re being groomed for a scam.

Unsuspecting people are being scammed now more than ever, and the person on the other side of the scam could very well be doing so against their will.