Cyberslavery in Southeast Asia scam hubs

A vast network of guarded compounds across Southeast Asia forced tens of thousands of trafficked workers to run online scams that generated billions of dollars in illegal profits, according to rights groups and official estimates.

Scam compounds as a new form of modern slavery

In border regions of Southeast Asia, so‑called fraud factories or “scam factories” operated as one of the largest contemporary forms of slavery. The complexes, often entire compounds or apartment blocks, systematically ran coordinated online fraud schemes targeting victims worldwide. Estimates suggested that about 220,000 people from more than 100 countries were forced to work in such facilities, which UN special rapporteurs in May 2025 described as a “human rights crisis”.

Rapid expansion since the pandemic

The phenomenon accelerated sharply after the COVID‑19 pandemic. Criminal networks, many with roots in China, shifted from physical gambling operations to cyber scamming, exploiting weak regulation and border areas. In 2023 alone, UN figures indicated at least 100,000 people were trafficked into scam centers in Cambodia and 120,000 into Myanmar, with some organisations estimating up to 300,000 trafficking victims across the wider region.

Hotspots from Poipet to the Golden Triangle

The main hubs were located in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, often near borders with Thailand and China. Cambodian sites in Poipet and Sihanoukville reportedly declined after heavy enforcement, pushing operations deeper into Myanmar. In Laos, several compounds were said to operate in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

Border militias and the Mae Sot corridor

In Myanmar, many scam complexes clustered in areas outside central government control, including Shwe Kokko and KK Park along the Moei River. The Thai town of Mae Sot, on the opposite bank, functioned as a key logistical hub for the fraud factories. Control of these enclaves was often delegated to local militias such as the Myanmar Border Guard Force (BGF), an ethnic Karen group.

False job offers and illegal crossings

Most victims were recruited online with promises of well‑paid jobs in cities like Bangkok. People from countries such as Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Indonesia were lured with offers ranging from restaurant work to general employment, appealing especially to Africans facing difficult economic conditions at home. After arrival, they were collected at airports and transported by minibus or taxi to border towns like Mae Sot, before being moved illegally into Laos, Cambodia or Myanmar.

Trapped by immigration limbo

Once across the border, victims found themselves in a legal deadlock. Their departure had been illegal, making return to transit countries such as Thailand difficult, while their stay in Myanmar or Laos was also unlawful. Criminal syndicates exploited this vulnerability to coerce them into signing employment contracts and accepting forced labour inside the compounds.

Sixteen‑hour shifts and no contact with families

Working conditions inside the fraud factories were described as inhuman. Trafficked workers were forced to deceive or extort strangers online, maintaining contact with victims via social media for up to 16 or 18 hours a day. They reportedly received no wages and were barred from communicating with their families.

Violence, torture and killings

The compounds resembled prisons or barracks, guarded by armed security teams. When assigned quotas were not met, brutal punishments followed. Rescued workers, including a man from Ethiopia identified as Joto, reported daily beatings, humiliations and electric shocks inflicted even without specific reasons. Survivors showed extensive bruises, cuts and scars, while in Kokang several employees of the Crouching Tiger Villa were allegedly shot dead while attempting to escape.

Threats of organ removal and calls for action

The pressure applied by the criminal cartels was extreme. Indonesian victims were reportedly threatened with organ removal if they failed to meet targets set by the gangs.

“There is an urgent need for action to stop this cross‑border organised crime,”

said Mina Chiang, founder of the human rights organisation Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC).

“Pig‑butchering” scams and fake trading platforms

Investigators referred to the main fraud model as a “trading scam”, while perpetrators themselves used the derogatory term “pig‑butchering“. Fraudsters established contact with victims via dating platforms or social media and first built emotional bonds or trust. Unlike classic “love scams”, they did not claim personal money problems but persuaded targets to invest in supposedly safe opportunities, often involving cryptocurrencies.

Billions in global losses

The investments typically flowed into fake trading platforms or cloned apps mimicking legitimate services. Initial small profits were paid out to deepen trust, but once enough money had been deposited, accounts were closed and all funds disappeared. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated the annual volume of these illegal operations at about US$40 billion, with syndicates in just one Mekong‑region country believed to have extracted between US$7.5 billion and US$12.5 billion.

Victims from Bavaria to Beijing

The impact was global. Germany’s Central Office for Cybercrime Bavaria (ZCB) recorded around €29 million in losses from 370 reported cases since 2021, with an average loss of nearly €80,000 per victim. Many fraud victims were Chinese citizens themselves, even as Chinese triad groups were said to hold predominant control over the fraud factories, pointing to a broader organised‑crime problem possibly involving figures from business and politics.

Militias, coups and local protection networks

In Myanmar, numerous fraud compounds were situated in territories administered by ethnic militias. Shwe Kokko and KK Park were controlled by the BGF, which publicly agreed to crack down on illegal activities despite analysts noting it had previously protected the scam operators. After the 2021 military coup, influence in these areas shifted to groups such as the Kayin National Army (KNA) and the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA), further complicating accountability.

Limited political will and slow repatriations

Despite occasional raids, dismantling the networks remained difficult amid suspicions that some governments were reluctant to assign responsibility. Observers feared thorough investigations could implicate senior figures. The same obstacles slowed the return of rescued cyber slaves, as bureaucratic procedures and financial barriers delayed repatriation for months.

China pushes trilateral crackdown

Facing widespread victimisation of its own citizens, China increased pressure on regional partners. In July 2025, China, Myanmar and Thailand reaffirmed plans to deepen cooperation against telecommunication fraud, aiming to fully eliminate the syndicates in Myanmar. The pledge was made at the second ministerial conference on joint action against such crimes in Naypyidaw.

Mass arrests and high‑profile rescues

Police forces from the three countries agreed to strengthen cross‑border law‑enforcement coordination, particularly in areas such as Myawaddy. Since the beginning of the year, more than 5,400 Chinese nationals were arrested and returned to China. One prominent case was the rescue of Chinese actress Wong Jing (also known as Wang Xing) in February 2025, which, under pressure from Beijing, triggered one of the largest single rescue operations.

Networks adapt despite power cuts

Chinese state media reported that 41,000 people linked to telecommunication fraud in Myanmar were handed over to Chinese authorities in 2023. Authorities also tried to disrupt the infrastructure of scam hubs by cutting internet, fuel and electricity in Myawaddy; Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority shut off power to several compounds in 2023. However, reports indicated that KK Park did not cease operations for a single day, as Starlink connections quickly replaced blocked Thai telecommunications links, prompting criticism that the US‑based service enabled a humanitarian crisis and national‑security threat.

Bombing raids and rebel offensives

When supply disruptions failed, Myanmar’s army resorted to direct military action, bombing the KK Park industrial zone in October 2025. The attack allowed more than 7,000 forced workers to escape. In northern Myanmar, the Three Brotherhood Alliance rebel coalition seized control of Laukkaing, a notorious online‑scam hub, stating that its goal was to eradicate fraud centres and their protection networks, and eventually taking control of the wider Kokang region.

Rescue that leads to renewed abuse

The military government also stormed a complex in Shwe Kokko in November 2025, detaining 350 foreign nationals. Yet mass rescues created a new humanitarian emergency, with thousands of freed foreign workers stranded in makeshift camps along the Thai border. Many were revictimised in “army camps or converted scam compounds” controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, where they reportedly faced conditions similar to those inside the scam centres, including torture, beatings and squalid sanitation, with 800 people sharing just 10 filthy toilets.

Long‑term trauma and obstacles to going home

The toll of the scams extended far beyond financial losses. Victims suffered severe psychological harm such as depression and anxiety, and Bavaria’s justice minister Georg Eisenreich warned that two people had taken their own lives in recent years out of despair over their losses. Freed forced labourers also faced protracted delays in returning home due to logistical hurdles, identity checks and the lack of money for air tickets, such as the US$600 needed by some Ethiopian citizens, while some were even prosecuted in their own countries.

A digital slave market with global reach

The fraud factories in Southeast Asia formed a complex multinational system of exploitation that stripped trafficked workers of freedom and dignity while inflicting financial and psychological devastation on strangers around the world. They effectively operated as a sinister digital slave market, where the commodity was kidnapped humans, the workplace was a locked cell and the final product was the ruined life of each defrauded victim.