Faced with a decline in international travellers because of COVID, criminal gangs have turned casino towns into scam centres and are forcing people to work there.
Other governments have tried to intervene without much success. In April, Thai policeon a string of locations in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, and Sihanoukville, accompanied by local police. The Thai authorities were hoping to rescue up to 3000 Thais believed to have been tricked into working for scam operators and held against their will. They managed just 66 – not least, according to the Thai police’s own statement, because of local corruption and resistance on the Cambodian side.
“A combination of China’s draconian COVID restrictions and the Chinese government’s public education on this have made it much more difficult for these criminals to traffic Chinese nationals into these scam and fraud zones overseas.” says Tower. “As a result, the criminals are now really going global – targeting victims across the region and beyond.”
The most effective weapon against organised crime groups perpetuating scams and abusing workers, though, is simply making what they do unprofitable. In other words, boosting awareness about the prevalence and dangers of online and telephone scams, and educating people on how to spot the signs so they don’t hand over money in the first place.
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