How Technology and Regulatory Gaps Fuel Scam Compounds
The Myanmar-Thailand bridge in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand | Wikimedia Commons
In this article published by Tech Policy.Press, Laura Scherling writes about the proliferation of human trafficking and scam compounds in Southeast Asia in light of the United States foreign aid freeze.
Cyber crime accounts for just one part of the scourge of human trafficking. While the penalties for drug trafficking are huge, the trafficking of human beings persists as a largely invisible crisis. Human trafficking takes on many forms: exploitation in sex and entertainment, agriculture, hospitality, and in cyber scams. Cyber-enabled human trafficking, trafficking leveraging the internet and other modern technologies, represents a relatively new, destructive, force amplifier. Benedikt Hofmann, the UNODC Deputy Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, has called Southeast Asia the “the ground zero for the global scamming industry.”
Cyber crime syndicates are rapidly evolving their use of technologies to include artificial intelligence, deepfakes, malware, and cryptocurrencies for laundering money. Armed with new AI-powered tools, malicious actors can create sophisticated chatbots and voice clones. AI is not only used to lure victims into financial scams like pig butchering, a type of long con leveraging trust and emotional connections typically built via online messaging platforms, but can also be used in the recruitment of victims of trafficking for forced criminality.
The pandemic created the perfect storm for a surge in scam compounds. The victim profile became more global with people looking for jobs and willing to travel. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Thailand, a UN-related organization, noted in an interview that I conducted for this article that victims of trafficking for forced criminality have been predominantly men between 20 and 35, educated at different levels, and are “frequently targeted” for being multilingual. They are legitimately skilled in tech work and, so far, the IOM have “identified victims from more than 45 different nationalities.” Meanwhile, the shells of casinos and buildings that were hastily abandoned could be exploited and in some instances rebuilt into scam centers. Criminal groups soon realized that scamming operations were highly lucrative.
