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https://theconversation.com/inside-southeast-asias-scam-compounds-a-trafficked-worker-tells-of-fraud-coercion-and-torture-280311>
"I was recently in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and approached a group of young men in
front of the Indian embassy. I told them I was a University of Toronto
researcher.
I asked: “Are you from the scam compounds?” Scam compounds are industrial-scale
complexes where trafficked workers are confined and forced to carry out online
fraud.
They were. One man in his early 30s named Akshit told me his story.
Akshit was not your typical human trafficking victim. His English is perfect,
he is educated, and he has worked in banks and call centres. But he was
trafficked. In 2024, a friend told him of a friend who knew about a job in
Cambodia paying twice what he earned in India.
After a quick interview, he paid US$500 to fly to Phnom Penh via Kuala Lumpur.
The flight and his car ride to Sihanoukville, a coastal city in southwest
Cambodia, were comfortable, and on arrival at an apartment block he was given a
welcome bag and a nice room. It all seemed above board.
It was anything but. He was in a scam compound where hundreds of workers sat at
computers and convinced Asians and westerners to invest in fake schemes or love
interests. Workers were arranged in teams of eight, led by a team leader, with
a manager overseeing several teams and a Chinese criminal syndicate above them.
His recruiter had sold him for US$5,000."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
