HONG KONG: More than 1,800 people have been arrested in a joint operation across Asia targeting scam networks, police in H
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.
