“OUR CHANCE TO ESCAPE”
Webs of anonymous crypto payments and chronic under-reporting by embarrassed victims make losses to scam centres hard to quantify.
But victims in Southeast and East Asia alone were conned out of up to US$37 billion in 2023, according to a United Nations report, which said global losses were likely “much larger”.
War-torn Myanmar’s loosely governed border regions have proven particularly fertile ground for the hubs.
The embattled junta, which seized power in a 2021 coup, has been accused of turning a blind eye to scam centres enriching its domestic militia allies.
But it has also faced pressure to curb the black market by its international backer China, galled at hubs recruiting as well as targeting its citizens.
Last month, the junta said its troops had occupied around 200 buildings in KK Park and found more than 2,000 scammers.
Analysts say the raid was likely limited and heavily choreographed, designed to vent pressure to take action without too badly denting profits.
But it nonetheless prompted an exodus of 1,500 people from 28 nationalities into Thailand, according to provincial Thai authorities.
Among them were around 500 Indian nationals and around 200 Filipinos.
Authorities face the daunting task of discerning trafficking victims from willing scammers.
Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, one Filipino man described fleeing KK Park on Oct 22 with around 30 compatriots as a pro-junta militia arrived to aid the crackdown.
“Everyone ran outside,” he said. “This was our chance to escape.”
Grabbing what few possessions he could, the man fled the compound he says he was trafficked into and crossed by boat to western Thailand.
Source: CNA
