I wouldn't feel sorry for these vulnerable victims because they are also corrupt and they are enjoying it. If not an upright man that finds himself in such mess wouldn't dance to their tunes but will rather face the consequences of disagreeing with them. Or better still,when they are out to buy some stuffs,they will go report to the police.
Do you know mental state that someone scammed will be in. I have seen a case whereby a scammed woman out of frustration had stroke and died because she couldn't face the loss. The world is very corrupt and that is why the rate of scamming is high. People hardly say the truth to get what they want from you. People display all sort of dubious actions just to steal people hard earned money.
Our politicians are also scammers,because before elections, they promise us with assurance that they will make the country a better place but after elections, funds that is meant for development of the country will be embezzled by them and when you want to tell them the truth, you will be killed.
Topic: Hundreds of thousands trafficked to work as online scammers in SE Asia, says UN - page 2. (Read 202 times)
August 30, 2023, 12:00:20 PM
August 30, 2023, 11:47:31 AM
Damn, so it's like an IT business if you know what I mean. People are paid to scam and they work for monthly wages which can be as low as $300.
And once they are willing to catch big fish, they get a percentage or reward out of it. It's like a living for most of the people especially in India. I have seen so many videos on the YouTube.
Maybe it's government organized? Like North Korea did with their hackers to hack Crypto and send it to their vaults.
And once they are willing to catch big fish, they get a percentage or reward out of it. It's like a living for most of the people especially in India. I have seen so many videos on the YouTube.
Maybe it's government organized? Like North Korea did with their hackers to hack Crypto and send it to their vaults.
August 30, 2023, 11:29:01 AM
Governments of these affected states has a crucial role to play to end this modernized human trafficking under the auspice of scam.
The problem with fighting these scammers promoters are that some state elites are also into this business gaining a lot from it and will try as much as possible to sabotage every external force in cubbing this menace.
Another confusion is that we can't actually tell who's willfully executing these scams for these people to earn a wage from those that are actually forced in taking up the activity.
The problem with fighting these scammers promoters are that some state elites are also into this business gaining a lot from it and will try as much as possible to sabotage every external force in cubbing this menace.
Another confusion is that we can't actually tell who's willfully executing these scams for these people to earn a wage from those that are actually forced in taking up the activity.
August 30, 2023, 11:20:28 AM
Think about that next time you are greeted by a scammer - don't give them any money of course, but it makes you feel sorry for their situation (not the fake made-up story that they tell you).
It is difficult to feel sorry for someone who is trying to deceive you into sending them your money, especially when you don't know what their situation is at the other end of the computer, but i understand what you are saying. Trafficking of different kinds exist of course, but is the number of people forced to work as online scammers so large? The quote you shared stated that it is "difficult to estimate", but i think it is arguable that most online scammers are working voluntarily and many of them even submit themselves to these scam networks to add to their workforce. Nevertheless it is the work of the authorities to stop these trafficking networks, but i am going to tell off any scammer trying to scam me. 
August 30, 2023, 11:11:38 AM
"Minimum Wage should not be Spendable it should be liveable", is a very deep moto, I was watching the documentary last night on the crime rate and how the daily wagers spend their life in my locality and I felt that how they are living in such hardships, We can't even bear one-time missing meal situations and they spend days in starvation.
Besides that the scammers who are being used to trap people are the puppets, I can agree with it but what can be their necessity for doing that it can't be the daily spending. The point is at the end of the day they get brought to this business by their greed. I know they are puppets there can the reasons but the weak time chooses the wrong path and it never ends well. I have never heard about any operation confronting the real ones. For the growth of economies, I think from where the most people get brought into this business are underdeveloped countries where they suffer from the hard times and eventually choose this way.
Besides that the scammers who are being used to trap people are the puppets, I can agree with it but what can be their necessity for doing that it can't be the daily spending. The point is at the end of the day they get brought to this business by their greed. I know they are puppets there can the reasons but the weak time chooses the wrong path and it never ends well. I have never heard about any operation confronting the real ones. For the growth of economies, I think from where the most people get brought into this business are underdeveloped countries where they suffer from the hard times and eventually choose this way.
August 30, 2023, 10:59:50 AM
Unfortunately that's nothing new.
I am following a lot of scam buster youtube channels and often enough they confront scammers about what they are doing and sometimes these people get chatty and open up about they situation and why they are doing this.
Many have no other choice. When their education level might be not high enough to work in an reputable industry they are basically forced to do whatever in order to feed their families or them selves.
Often enough, when people go to job interviews they thing they are applying for a regular job, just to find out they actually need to scam people. Some of them feel bad about it and are left with choosing between being hungry or scam stranger they don't know and who they think have more than enough money anyway, because they live in the west.
This is a very sad situation and terrible for both sides.
Of course there is also total scum, people that love their "job". Mocking and insulting their victims and proudly showing off what they have accomplished.
I am following a lot of scam buster youtube channels and often enough they confront scammers about what they are doing and sometimes these people get chatty and open up about they situation and why they are doing this.
Many have no other choice. When their education level might be not high enough to work in an reputable industry they are basically forced to do whatever in order to feed their families or them selves.
Often enough, when people go to job interviews they thing they are applying for a regular job, just to find out they actually need to scam people. Some of them feel bad about it and are left with choosing between being hungry or scam stranger they don't know and who they think have more than enough money anyway, because they live in the west.
This is a very sad situation and terrible for both sides.
Of course there is also total scum, people that love their "job". Mocking and insulting their victims and proudly showing off what they have accomplished.
August 30, 2023, 10:58:47 AM
As far as I remember something like this existed in our country not long ago where students who were given free scholarships in their schools were given a kind of work that they needed to introduce and promote products to foreigners online and they were told to at least make sales or else they lose their scholarships. They are forced to work but in the end, they are busted because what they are promoting is some illegal stuff like a Ponzi scheme investment or something like a scam call center that is offering technical works in the computer but in reality, they are just simply scamming others and steal their money.
August 30, 2023, 10:40:41 AM
According to this new and damning report, the average scammer that you see on the likes of Telegram and other social media aren't professional con-men but are merely forced to work for them in order to gain a living (think like child trafficking and sex trafficking).
Lots of these people are being forced to work for a handful of overlords who ultimately reap all of the benefits of the stolen money while the trafficked scam worker gets just a tiny cut of it, less than minimum wage and keeping most of them in poverty.
Lots of these people are being forced to work for a handful of overlords who ultimately reap all of the benefits of the stolen money while the trafficked scam worker gets just a tiny cut of it, less than minimum wage and keeping most of them in poverty.
It’s been this way since, some of these scammers hubs are even set up by established people where they bring in people for the low background train them to carry out their crimes for them. Most of them are paid peanuts, some do it because their family security also depends on it and it is what’s use to threaten them.
In as much as I agree with you that policies are to be set aside to different the real cohorts and the victim-scammers as I will put it, I think it will be hard because most of the them when caught will actually use this umbrella even the real culprits.
Do you even know that most of them are the once that actually present themselves to this established scam bodies just because they want to live a life with luxury. Yeah the economy of most of their countries are not good enough but come off it some are just to greedy and want a go at life the easier way. That’s why they end up been used for stuffs like this.
August 30, 2023, 10:02:40 AM
I followed the news about this a few days ago, and apparently most of the victims of this type of "illegal work" trap are immigrant workers from my country. And the funny thing is, the targets of their deception are people from their own country.
And I can conclude that they're really stupid, they (scammers) can provide their own bank accounts to potential victims to receive money from their crime activities.
And I can conclude that they're really stupid, they (scammers) can provide their own bank accounts to potential victims to receive money from their crime activities.
August 30, 2023, 09:42:13 AM
According to this new and damning report, the average scammer that you see on the likes of Telegram and other social media aren't professional con-men but are merely forced to work for them in order to gain a living (think like child trafficking and sex trafficking).
Lots of these people are being forced to work for a handful of overlords who ultimately reap all of the benefits of the stolen money while the trafficked scam worker gets just a tiny cut of it, less than minimum wage and keeping most of them in poverty.
Only after the economies of all those countries improve like China will people's average wages go up and make this kind of work gradually become infesable and peter out into the darkness.
Think about that next time you are greeted by a scammer - don't give them any money of course, but it makes you feel sorry for their situation (not the fake made-up story that they tell you).
Lots of these people are being forced to work for a handful of overlords who ultimately reap all of the benefits of the stolen money while the trafficked scam worker gets just a tiny cut of it, less than minimum wage and keeping most of them in poverty.
Only after the economies of all those countries improve like China will people's average wages go up and make this kind of work gradually become infesable and peter out into the darkness.
Think about that next time you are greeted by a scammer - don't give them any money of course, but it makes you feel sorry for their situation (not the fake made-up story that they tell you).
GENEVA (29 August 2023) – Hundreds of thousands of people are being forcibly engaged by organised criminal gangs into online criminality in Southeast Asia - from romance-investment scams and crypto fraud to illegal gambling - a report issued today by the UN Human Rights Office shows.
Victims face a range of serious violations and abuses, including threats to their safety and security; and many have been subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced labour, and other human rights abuses, the report says.
“People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes. They are victims. They are not criminals,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
“In continuing to call for justice for those who have been defrauded through online criminality, we must not forget that this complex phenomenon has two sets of victims.”
The enormity of online scam trafficking in Southeast Asia is difficult to estimate, the reports says, because of the clandestine nature and gaps in the official response. Credible sources indicate that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams, with estimates in Cambodia similarly at around 100,000. Other States in the region, including Lao PDR, the Philippines and Thailand, have also been identified as main countries of destination or transit where at least tens of thousands of people have been involved.
The scam centres generate revenue amounting to billions of US dollars each year.
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated response measures had a drastic impact on illicit activities across the region. Public health measures closed casinos in many countries and in response, casino operators moved operations to less regulated spaces including conflict-affected border areas and Special Economic Zones, as well as to the increasingly lucrative online space, the report says.
Faced with new operational realities, criminal actors increasingly targeted migrants in vulnerable situations – who were stranded in these countries and out of work due to border and business closures – for recruitment into criminal operations, under the pretence of offering them real jobs. As COVID-related shutdowns saw millions of people restricted to their homes, spending more time online, there were more ready targets for online fraud schemes and more people susceptible to fraudulent recruitment.
Most people trafficked into the online scam operations are men, although women and adolescents are also among the victims, the report says. Most are not citizens of the countries in which the trafficking occurs. Many of the victims are well-educated, sometimes coming from professional jobs or with graduate or even post-graduate degrees, computer-literate and multi-lingual. Victims come from across the ASEAN region (from Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), as well as mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Asia, and even further afield from Africa and Latin America.
While some countries in Southeast Asia have put in place legal and policy frameworks relevant to counter trafficking, in some cases they fall short of international standards. In many cases their implementation has failed to respond adequately to the context and sophistication of these online scams, the report says.
Victims of trafficking and other human rights abuse are erroneously identified as criminals or as immigration offenders and, rather than being protected and given access to the rehabilitation and remedy they need, they are subjected to criminal prosecution or immigration penalties, it says.
“All affected States need to summon the political will to strengthen human rights and improve governance and the rule of law, including through serious and sustained efforts to tackle corruption. This must be as much a part of the response to these scams as a robust criminal justice response,” said Türk.
“Only such a holistic approach can break the cycle of impunity and ensure protection and justice for the people who have been so horrifically abused.”
Victims face a range of serious violations and abuses, including threats to their safety and security; and many have been subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced labour, and other human rights abuses, the report says.
“People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes. They are victims. They are not criminals,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
“In continuing to call for justice for those who have been defrauded through online criminality, we must not forget that this complex phenomenon has two sets of victims.”
The enormity of online scam trafficking in Southeast Asia is difficult to estimate, the reports says, because of the clandestine nature and gaps in the official response. Credible sources indicate that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams, with estimates in Cambodia similarly at around 100,000. Other States in the region, including Lao PDR, the Philippines and Thailand, have also been identified as main countries of destination or transit where at least tens of thousands of people have been involved.
The scam centres generate revenue amounting to billions of US dollars each year.
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated response measures had a drastic impact on illicit activities across the region. Public health measures closed casinos in many countries and in response, casino operators moved operations to less regulated spaces including conflict-affected border areas and Special Economic Zones, as well as to the increasingly lucrative online space, the report says.
Faced with new operational realities, criminal actors increasingly targeted migrants in vulnerable situations – who were stranded in these countries and out of work due to border and business closures – for recruitment into criminal operations, under the pretence of offering them real jobs. As COVID-related shutdowns saw millions of people restricted to their homes, spending more time online, there were more ready targets for online fraud schemes and more people susceptible to fraudulent recruitment.
Most people trafficked into the online scam operations are men, although women and adolescents are also among the victims, the report says. Most are not citizens of the countries in which the trafficking occurs. Many of the victims are well-educated, sometimes coming from professional jobs or with graduate or even post-graduate degrees, computer-literate and multi-lingual. Victims come from across the ASEAN region (from Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), as well as mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Asia, and even further afield from Africa and Latin America.
While some countries in Southeast Asia have put in place legal and policy frameworks relevant to counter trafficking, in some cases they fall short of international standards. In many cases their implementation has failed to respond adequately to the context and sophistication of these online scams, the report says.
Victims of trafficking and other human rights abuse are erroneously identified as criminals or as immigration offenders and, rather than being protected and given access to the rehabilitation and remedy they need, they are subjected to criminal prosecution or immigration penalties, it says.
“All affected States need to summon the political will to strengthen human rights and improve governance and the rule of law, including through serious and sustained efforts to tackle corruption. This must be as much a part of the response to these scams as a robust criminal justice response,” said Türk.
“Only such a holistic approach can break the cycle of impunity and ensure protection and justice for the people who have been so horrifically abused.”
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