Why Southeast Asia's online scam industry is so hard to shut down

Cambodia's arrest and extradition of a powerful tycoon accused of running a vast online scam network marks a rare strike against an industry that has stolen tens of billions of dollars worldwide. US and UK authorities say Chen Zhi led a transnational criminal enterprise that exploited trafficked workers and defrauded victims worldwide.

For victims, the scams often start small: a text offering a part-time job, asking about weekend availability, or simply saying “hello.” On the other end is often a labourer halfway around the world, forced to work 12- to 16-hour days, sending message after message until someone responds.

That human toll is immense. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be trapped in forced labour, housed in sprawling compounds across Southeast Asia and compelled to run scams whose sole purpose is to take your money. Even with a high-profile arrest, dismantling the industry remains extraordinarily difficult. Here's why:

The crackdown in Myanmar

The Myanmar military last October moved into one of the most well-known scam compounds — the massive KK Park, along the border with Thailand — and announced it had shut the operation down. However, work has continued uninterrupted at other scam centres in Myanmar, where people trafficked from around the world still wait to be rescued.

The raid triggered a mass flight of workers. About 1,500 labourers crossed into Thailand, including hundreds from India as well as citizens from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Kenya. Thai military officials said troops later demolished several structures within the massive complex.

KK Park was only one of dozens of such centres along the Thai-Myanmar border — and hundreds more scattered across Southeast Asia — underscoring how difficult it is to dismantle an industry that can quickly shift operations when under pressure.

Emerging from casinos and illegal gambling

Scam compounds are often sprawling complexes in rural areas, complete with sleeping quarters, shops and entertainment venues for workers. Developers typically build a single property and lease space inside to multiple companies, allowing numerous operations to run side by side.

Many operate with the protection of local elites. Smaller setups also exist, tucked into a single floor of a legitimate office building or even a rented house in an urban neighbourhood.

The centres trace their roots to casinos — both physical and online — that proliferated across Southeast Asia over the past decade. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime counted more than 340 licensed and unlicensed casinos in the region in 2021 alone.

Those casinos, often paired with junket tours, catered to high-rollers from China, where gambling is illegal, and were frequently run by Chinese criminal groups.

When the Covid-19 pandemic and strict travel restrictions cut off customers, some online casinos pivoted. With revenue drying up, operators shifted to a new model: using the same infrastructure and labour to defraud targets around the world through digital scams.

Relying on both trafficked and willing labour

An estimated 120,000 people in Myanmar are being forced to work in online scam operations, along with another 100,000 in Cambodia, according to a 2023 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Those figures are rough estimates, but investigators say scam centres rely on a mix of trafficked victims and workers who arrive willingly — lured by false promises of relatively high pay and easy office jobs.

Early on, most workers came from China and Chinese-speaking countries. Today, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says labourers are recruited from at least 56 countries, ranging from Indonesia to Liberia.

For many, the reality is far harsher than advertised. Workers say their passports are often confiscated to prevent them from leaving the compounds. Only senior managers and trusted lieutenants are allowed to move freely. Those who fail to meet targets risk beatings or other physical punishment.

A global scourge

Scammers cast a wide net, targeting victims around the world and increasingly relying on artificial intelligence-powered translation tools to overcome language barriers.