The U.S. Sun is given a harrowing insight into the nightmares suffered by thousands of people duped into become scammers
SCAM factories where thousands of trafficked workers are held for 16-hour shifts have been exposed as the source of fraud messages sent en masse to unwitting Americans every day.
The so-called employees are allegedly beaten, electrically shocked, and held at gunpoint as they send the messages from call center “cities” on the other side of the world on the Myanmar/Thailand border.
Through first-hand accounts and bombshell revelations, investigative reporter Denise Chan helped expose the multi-billion dollar empire of syndicates that traffick people with promises of amazing jobs, before trapping victims in a living hell.
Chan has laid bare to The U.S. Sun the nightmare uncovered in her podcast series Scam Factory which follows two Filipino siblings, Charlie and Max, on their journey and attempted escape from a nightmare situation.
The show follows Charlie, who helps her younger brother Max land a dream job abroad.
But when Max arrives, the job does not exist.
Instead, he is trapped in a heavily-guarded compound where armed guards have shoot-to-kill orders.
For Charlie, the only way to free her beloved brother is to dive deeper into the underworld.
With the help of Thai based Colonel Dominador Matalang, reporter Chan worked tirelessly to help the pair escape the hell of being sucked into the scam culture.
“At its heart,” Chan says, “this is a family story.”
According to a recent report by the United States Institute of Peace, there are an estimated total of more than 300,000 scammers in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos that account for at least $40 billion in stolen funds worldwide.
The fallout from Myanmar’s 2021 military takeover has turned the once-quiet border with Thailand into a hotbed of crime and corruption.
Ruthless Chinese crime syndicates have swooped in, cutting deals with warring factions to replace lush rainforests with shady high-rise hubs dedicated to pulling off massive online scams.
While officials fail to crack down, Myanmar’s militia bosses and Chinese gangsters are smuggling tens of thousands of desperate workers across the border to fuel their criminal empires, according to shocking reports from the United Nations.
Working in conjunction with a local Thai reporter, Los Angeles based Chan was told about how Charlie and Max had just escaped from one of the gleaming new compounds built with dirty money.
Strips of restaurants and hotels have sprung up out of nowhere and, according to Chan, give this nondescript area of Myanmar, which was unaffected by the recent devastating earthquakes.
Initially, Max was told about a job opportunity in Cambodia from friends and, desperate to boost his very modest income, accepted without hesitation.
Max was making about $250 a month driving his family van and doing gig work. This job was offering $1,000 a month.
“The salary was so enticing,” admitted Chan.
SUCKED IN
The adverts mentioned a customer service role for an online gambling casino abroad, which would also appear randomly in chat groups on the likes of Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook.
Interested parties would be told about travelling to Bangkok, with travel and accommodation costs included.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything. We’ll post you up, and then we’ll get you to the compound,” the scammers tell their targets.
As the unwitting employees head onto the bus, they are driven to the border and taken on a boat across the river to Myanmar. The drivers play dumb, stressing they don’t speak the same language, Chan explained.
As the magical mystery tour deepens, worried texts are exchanged with the recruiters. The answers would come back with fake reassurance.
“At that point, they don’t really have any other options,” stressed Chan. “They just have to trust what they’re being told and go along with it. That’s how many of them end up in these compounds.”
They are just luring you until you will be trapped.
Colonel Dominador Matalang
Upon arrival, the now bewildered men and women who’ve been cooped up in a bus for eight hours are greeted by the sight of a “micro city” which has sprung up in the middle of nowhere.
There are mid-rise buildings with dorms and offices, but also casinos, hotels, streets of restaurants, and karaoke bars. It’s like a fully functioning city.
“It’s bizarre,” admitted Chan. “They’re specifically designed to support these scam operations. It’s a whole infrastructure built around exploiting people.”
The luxury amenities, which began springing up during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when employment and loneliness levels rose exponentially giving scammers a golden opportunity to strike, are for the bosses but the sheer scale, according to the investigative reporter, is “shocking.”
Chan says the pace of building in the last five years has been “insane.”
With Myanmar in the midst of a civil war, it’s allowed the scammers to wreak havoc with people’s lives.
“For law enforcement, especially from outside jurisdictions, it’s nearly impossible to operate in these areas,” continued Chan.
“The lack of centralized control and oversight makes it a hotbed for these kinds of operations.”
PUBLIC ATTENTION
Two high profile incidents involving a Hong Kong pop star and a Chinese actor who became entangled in the plots have forced leaders from China and Thailand to come forward, saying they’re committed to cracking down on these operations.
At the end of February, 7,000 people were freed from several compounds in Myanmar.
Nevertheless, people like Max have already been sucked into the nightmare.
Upon arrival at the compounds, many are able to put the hellish start to the journey to one side after being greeted with the gleaming amenities offered.
Guides usher people to their accommodations, and told to relax before starting work the next day.
It didn’t take long, however, for the fear to set in.
Immediately once entering the office, cell phones were taken away and given to the bosses who would scroll through and monitor their communications. Everything was tightly controlled, they claimed.
They were under constant surveillance. CCTV cameras were everywhere, and their bosses also monitored their computer screens. They’d be given a list of leads and instructed to start contacting people. It’s essentially a numbers game—they’re texting as many people as possible, trying to build relationships and see who takes the bait.
The Colonel admits physical violence is commonplace. Victims are beaten, electronically shocked, and put in “dark rooms” and “water jails.”
They are, continued the Colonel, sold openly between the companies, mainly when their performance is low in scamming, or they complain too much.
All victims were told that they owed the company money.
The fee the companies claim includes food, accommodations, travel, and other items that were agreed upon as being “free.”
Bosses added the cost they used to purchase victims onto victims’ debt.
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13943749/scam-factory-texts-americans-violence-myanmar/
