The Scam Problem
Online scams are part of sophisticated programs managed by transnational organized crime groups.
Transnational organized crime has rooted in Southeast Asia and is quickly expanding its geographical footprint to other locations including Dubai. Compounds such as KK Park located in Myanmar (pictured above) house thousands of human-trafficked victims, who are forced to steal money from the rest of the world, often in the form of a fraud known as pig butchering.
The management is organized, sophisticated, and operating on an industrial scale, often with the tacit agreement of the governments of the countries in which they operate.
Billions of dollars are being handed over, household by household, to bad actors. The human toll — both to the trafficked victims and those who fall victim to the scams — is devastating.
7 Minutes in a Scam Compound
Erin West had a unique opportunity to see inside compounds in the Philippines where human-trafficked victims were forced to scam people out of their life savings.
After raiding two separate compounds, the Philippine government left much of the infrastructure intact and has allowed trusted partners to walk through these facilities to see first-hand the conditions under which this dirty business was transacted. This video gives you a glimpse of the facilities, operating in plain view — one only blocks from the U.S. Embassy.