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This is a great interactive article about what it's like to be kidnapped and forced to work in these scam centers on the Myanmar border, lured by promise of job

This is a great interactive article about what it's like to be kidnapped and forced to work in these scam centers on the Myanmar border, lured by promise of jobs people are trapped, passports confiscated, phones stolen, 16-hour workdays spent defrauding victims online, cultivating fake relationships and pressuring them into investment or romance scams: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/17/world/asia/myanmar-cyber-scam.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/17/world/asia/my...

EvanAnderson 1y ago
I got a lot less snarky in my responses to scam text messages when I learned about the forced labor aspect. I just block the sender and go on, versus trying to bait them and waste their time. For awhile I was asking "Is there someone I can contact for you?", but then I got worried that would get somebody a beating.
- Mistletoe 1y ago
  “I love you” works well, because even if they are a piece of shit now, they need to hear it. No one is born bad. I’ve actually gotten them to break character with stuff like that sometimes.
  - datameta 1y ago
    I agree with the sentiment, but that phrase is too strong to be used in an unfamiliar setting and won't land the same way outside of the anglosphere
    - xandrius 1y ago
      Yeah, I'd go for something like "despite what you have to do, you still matter".
- viraptor 1y ago
  > versus trying to bait them and waste their time. At least that prevents someone else getting scammed sooner.
  - EvanAnderson 1y ago
    I read somewhere about the operators receiving beatings when they failed to get a promising "lead" to produce. I don't want to give the appearance of being a promising lead anymore.
kuangtsao 1y ago
I used to work in this industry. It pretty much all started with this group of 'Fujian bosses' who set up these 'scam parks.' They were trying to wash money back to China and came up with all sorts of ways to do it, usually by pretending to be online gambling companies. The people actually doing the scams are on the Thai border, in Myanmar, and Cambodia. The IT and tech staff... well, some are in the parks, but a lot of them are in Taiwan. (I've also heard some are in Japan, singapore, malaysia and the UK). The money gets laundered through all kinds of channels into different tax havens. It might pass through Taiwan—'cause, you know, China can't touch it there and the money looks clean—and then it goes on to China or Singapore... basically, right into those bosses' pockets. Inside those parks, there's literally no law. I'm talking beatings, slavery, human trafficking, forcing people into prostitution, and death... that's just everyday stuff there. As for me, I was working in Taiwan, so the worst thing that happened to me was just not getting the high pay they promised. Other than that, I was fine. This is all stuff I either heard from other people in the business or saw firsthand.
- ValentineC 1y ago
  > The money gets laundered through all kinds of channels into different tax havens. It might pass through Taiwan—'cause, you know, China can't touch it there and the money looks clean—and then it goes on to China or Singapore... basically, right into those bosses' pockets. Singapore cracked down on a huge part of that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Singapore_money_laundering_case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Singapore_money_launderin... Funny how the banks let these money launderers go on with their activities for years, most likely because they paid the banks their share of fees and commissions.
  - kuangtsao 1y ago
    they use crypto for part of the money, too. I even heard some of the guys in the industry back then got paid in USDT.
  - noobermin 1y ago
    That's alright, when one falls, 3 others from China will be come in and restart the scheme anew.
dougb5 1y ago
I also recommend the Scam Factory podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cfjCS28vx1MVoukNjpINt https://open.spotify.com/show/2cfjCS28vx1MVoukNjpINt
ashanoko 1y ago
[dead]
mizzao 1y ago
This has been going on for a while and they didn't do anything about it. What changed?
- gsanghera 1y ago
  They probably became aware of the size of the pie, and decided to go for it themselves.. I know different country, but similar operation. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-butchering-scam.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-but...
vismit2000 1y ago
http://archive.is/WS34i http://archive.is/WS34i

EvanAnderson 1y ago

I got a lot less snarky in my responses to scam text messages when I learned about the forced labor aspect. I just block the sender and go on, versus trying to bait them and waste their time. For awhile I was asking "Is there someone I can contact for you?", but then I got worried that would get somebody a beating.

Mistletoe 1y ago
“I love you” works well, because even if they are a piece of shit now, they need to hear it. No one is born bad. I’ve actually gotten them to break character with stuff like that sometimes.
- datameta 1y ago
  I agree with the sentiment, but that phrase is too strong to be used in an unfamiliar setting and won't land the same way outside of the anglosphere
  - xandrius 1y ago
    Yeah, I'd go for something like "despite what you have to do, you still matter".
viraptor 1y ago
> versus trying to bait them and waste their time. At least that prevents someone else getting scammed sooner.
- EvanAnderson 1y ago
  I read somewhere about the operators receiving beatings when they failed to get a promising "lead" to produce. I don't want to give the appearance of being a promising lead anymore.

kuangtsao 1y ago

I used to work in this industry. It pretty much all started with this group of 'Fujian bosses' who set up these 'scam parks.' They were trying to wash money back to China and came up with all sorts of ways to do it, usually by pretending to be online gambling companies. The people actually doing the scams are on the Thai border, in Myanmar, and Cambodia. The IT and tech staff... well, some are in the parks, but a lot of them are in Taiwan. (I've also heard some are in Japan, singapore, malaysia and the UK). The money gets laundered through all kinds of channels into different tax havens. It might pass through Taiwan—'cause, you know, China can't touch it there and the money looks clean—and then it goes on to China or Singapore... basically, right into those bosses' pockets. Inside those parks, there's literally no law. I'm talking beatings, slavery, human trafficking, forcing people into prostitution, and death... that's just everyday stuff there. As for me, I was working in Taiwan, so the worst thing that happened to me was just not getting the high pay they promised. Other than that, I was fine. This is all stuff I either heard from other people in the business or saw firsthand.

ValentineC 1y ago
> The money gets laundered through all kinds of channels into different tax havens. It might pass through Taiwan—'cause, you know, China can't touch it there and the money looks clean—and then it goes on to China or Singapore... basically, right into those bosses' pockets. Singapore cracked down on a huge part of that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Singapore_money_laundering_case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Singapore_money_launderin... Funny how the banks let these money launderers go on with their activities for years, most likely because they paid the banks their share of fees and commissions.
- kuangtsao 1y ago
  they use crypto for part of the money, too. I even heard some of the guys in the industry back then got paid in USDT.
- noobermin 1y ago
  That's alright, when one falls, 3 others from China will be come in and restart the scheme anew.

dougb5 1y ago

I also recommend the Scam Factory podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cfjCS28vx1MVoukNjpINt https://open.spotify.com/show/2cfjCS28vx1MVoukNjpINt

ashanoko 1y ago

[dead]

mizzao 1y ago

This has been going on for a while and they didn't do anything about it. What changed?

gsanghera 1y ago
They probably became aware of the size of the pie, and decided to go for it themselves.. I know different country, but similar operation. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-butchering-scam.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-but...

vismit2000 1y ago

http://archive.is/WS34i http://archive.is/WS34i