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Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Crack down on Asia-based scam operations nets more than 1,800 people
Published Jun 03, 2025 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 1 minute read Men and women rescued from scam compounds in Myanmar sit inside a camp belonging to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in Kyaukhat, Myanmar on April 13, 2025, after their escape attempt to discuss their options for getting home. Photo by AP Photo / AP HONG KONG — More than 1,800 people have been arrested in a joint operation across Asia targeting scam networks, police in Hong Kong said on Tuesday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The crack down involving authorities in six other jurisdictions successfully intercepted fraudulent funds involving about $20 million, Wong Chun-yue, chief superintendent of the city's police's commercial crime bureau, said. The scam networks were closed down during the operation jointly conducted by South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and neighbouring Chinese gambling hub Macao, he said. The operation, which also involved authorities from Malaysia and the Maldives, targeted cases of online shopping and telephone scams, as well as investment and employment frauds. Nearly 33,000 accounts were frozen in the month to May 28, Wong said. Those arrested were aged between 14 and 81. In one case in March, a finance director in Singapore was scammed through deep-fake videos by someone who claimed to be the chief executive at a multinational corporation. The victim transferred $499,000 to Hong Kong, said Aileen Yap, assistant director of Singapore police's anti-scam command. Through cross-border cooperation, the money was recovered, she said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The victims of scams and online fraud often include not only those defrauded but also the workers used by scamming operations, with staff facing threats, violence and poor working conditions. A United Nations report in April found transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their scam operations across the globe. For several years, scam compounds have proliferated in Southeast Asia, especially in border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as in the Philippines, shifting operations from site to site to stay a step ahead of the police, according to the report issued by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The scam centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are notorious for luring people to work in them under false pretences. Staff are often forced to financially exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Many workers find themselves trapped in virtual slavery. Columnists Sunshine Girls Canada Olympics Technology
Japan Times
01-03-2025
- Japan Times
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centers face struggle to get home
BANGKOK – Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centers run by criminal gangs have little food, scant health care and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there said.
MTV Lebanon
28-02-2025
- MTV Lebanon
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centres face struggle to get home
Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centres run by criminal gangs have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there told Reuters. Both asked not to named because of safety concerns but shared their location by WhatsApp. It matched the location of a DKBA camp that was provided by an aid worker on the Thai border who is tracking the issue. In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of compounds across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations. "We barely eat twice a day. Sometimes twice, sometimes just once," a 29-year-old man from a central African country, who was moved to the camp on February 15, said by phone. "The ladies don't have access to any sanitary pads. We have to use at most five restrooms for about 500 people." Another detainee, a 39-year-old man from an east African country, accused the DKBA of not caring about humans and said: "We live like animals." Asked for comment on the detainees' remarks, DKBA official Saw San Aug told Reuters the armed group was attempting to help those plucked out of scam compounds and had the best of intentions, supplying them with two meals a day. "It might be true that they don't have enough toilets," he said. "There are lots of people and we are doing our best." Although operational for years, illegal scam compounds are now the target of the multi-national crackdown launched after the abduction of a Chinese actor from Thailand in January. He was later rescued from a compound in the Myawaddy area of southeastern Myanmar. Scores of people, many of them human trafficking victims, have since been released from the Myawaddy area and flown home through Thailand. About 7,000 pulled out of scam compounds are still trapped in limbo, including the group housed in the DKBA camp, opposite the Thai settlement of Chong Khaep.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centres face struggle to get home
By Devjyot Ghoshal and Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) - Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centres run by criminal gangs have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there told Reuters. Both asked not to named because of safety concerns but shared their location by WhatsApp. It matched the location of a DKBA camp that was provided by an aid worker on the Thai border who is tracking the issue. In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of compounds across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations. "We barely eat twice a day. Sometimes twice, sometimes just once," a 29-year-old man from a central African country, who was moved to the camp on February 15, said by phone. "The ladies don't have access to any sanitary pads. We have to use at most five restrooms for about 500 people." Another detainee, a 39-year-old man from an east African country, accused the DKBA of not caring about humans and said: "We live like animals." Asked for comment on the detainees' remarks, DKBA official Saw San Aug told Reuters the armed group was attempting to help those plucked out of scam compounds and had the best of intentions, supplying them with two meals a day. "It might be true that they don't have enough toilets," he said. "There are lots of people and we are doing our best." Although operational for years, illegal scam compounds are now the target of the multi-national crackdown launched after the abduction of a Chinese actor from Thailand in January. He was later rescued from a compound in the Myawaddy area of southeastern Myanmar. Scores of people, many of them human trafficking victims, have since been released from the Myawaddy area and flown home through Thailand. About 7,000 pulled out of scam compounds are still trapped in limbo, including the group housed in the DKBA camp, opposite the Thai settlement of Chong Khaep. NO MONEY FOR FLIGHT TICKET Videos of the camp shared by a detainee show rows of filthy toilets, some clogged with faeces, and stacks of plastic food containers overflowing out of a black garbage bag. In one photo, a group of men are seen lying or sleeping on a sheet on a bare floor. A meal served on Friday consisted of a small portion of rice and vegetables served in a white foam box, another photo showed. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the images. Since an initial group of released scam centre workers entered Thailand in February, Thai authorities have throttled cross-border movement, allowing only those people to come in whose countries have made arrangements for repatriation. Thailand's foreign ministry said on Friday it would enable foreign embassies to verify their citizens in Myanmar. The 29-year-old detainee who spoke to Reuters said he had contacted his central African country's embassy in China this week seeking help, but was told he and his countrymen would have to arrange for their tickets to leave Thailand themselves. The embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The detainee from the east African country said his nation's embassy in Tokyo had given him similar directions, but he and others did not have the funds to pay for their tickets. "I spent almost three months in the jungle," he said, referring to his time at a scam compound. "I don't have any financial support from outside." He said panic was beginning to grip some detainees in the DKBA camp over the prospect of being sent back to scam centres where witnesses have said coercion and torture are rife. "We don't know what is happening, when we're going to leave this place," said the 29-year-old man.
Reuters
28-02-2025
- Reuters
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centres face struggle to get home
Summary Multi-national crackdown launched on scam compounds Hundreds of foreign nationals moved to militia camp Conditions in the camp are difficult, witnesses say Some face problems trying to go home, they say BANGKOK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centres run by criminal gangs have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there told Reuters. Both asked not to named because of safety concerns but shared their location by WhatsApp. It matched the location of a DKBA camp that was provided by an aid worker on the Thai border who is tracking the issue. In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of compounds across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations. "We barely eat twice a day. Sometimes twice, sometimes just once," a 29-year-old man from a central African country, who was moved to the camp on February 15, said by phone. "The ladies don't have access to any sanitary pads. We have to use at most five restrooms for about 500 people." Another detainee, a 39-year-old man from an east African country, accused the DKBA of not caring about humans and said: "We live like animals." Asked for comment on the detainees' remarks, DKBA official Saw San Aug told Reuters the armed group was attempting to help those plucked out of scam compounds and had the best of intentions, supplying them with two meals a day. "It might be true that they don't have enough toilets," he said. "There are lots of people and we are doing our best." Although operational for years, illegal scam compounds are now the target of the multi-national crackdown launched after the abduction of a Chinese actor from Thailand in January. He was later rescued from a compound in the Myawaddy area of southeastern Myanmar. Scores of people, many of them human trafficking victims, have since been released from the Myawaddy area and flown home through Thailand. About 7,000 pulled out of scam compounds are still trapped in limbo, including the group housed in the DKBA camp, opposite the Thai settlement of Chong Khaep. NO MONEY FOR FLIGHT TICKET Videos of the camp shared by a detainee show rows of filthy toilets, some clogged with faeces, and stacks of plastic food containers overflowing out of a black garbage bag. In one photo, a group of men are seen lying or sleeping on a sheet on a bare floor. A meal served on Friday consisted of a small portion of rice and vegetables served in a white foam box, another photo showed. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the images. Since an initial group of released scam centre workers entered Thailand in February, Thai authorities have throttled cross-border movement, allowing only those people to come in whose countries have made arrangements for repatriation. Thailand's foreign ministry said on Friday it would enable foreign embassies to verify their citizens in Myanmar. The 29-year-old detainee who spoke to Reuters said he had contacted his central African country's embassy in China this week seeking help, but was told he and his countrymen would have to arrange for their tickets to leave Thailand themselves. The embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The detainee from the east African country said his nation's embassy in Tokyo had given him similar directions, but he and others did not have the funds to pay for their tickets. "I spent almost three months in the jungle," he said, referring to his time at a scam compound. "I don't have any financial support from outside." He said panic was beginning to grip some detainees in the DKBA camp over the prospect of being sent back to scam centres where witnesses have said coercion and torture are rife. "We don't know what is happening, when we're going to leave this place," said the 29-year-old man.
