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 scammers who are laser-focused on stealing 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 in which they operate.
Worse still, they are staffed largely by a human-trafficked workforce. Billions of dollars are being handed over household by household to bad actors. The human toll both to the trafficked victims and those who fell victim to the romance/investment scam is devastating.
7 Minutes in a Scam Compound
Erin West sees where human trafficking victims were forced to scam people out of their life savings in a massive complex that the Philippine government had previously raided.
Just blocks from the U.S. Embassy, West she where scammers worked, lived, and were punished. And she sees the luxurious apartments, offices, and heavily fortified cars enjoyed by the “big boss” of the site.