New Books Network: Scam – Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds

In this episode of the New Books in Southeast Asia Podcast, Ivan Franceschini, Ling Li, and Mark Bo discuss their new book, Scam: Inside Southeast Asia's Cybercrime Compounds (Verso Books, 2025). Scam traces how small-scale online gambling rings evolved into an international “scamdemics,” accelerated by the disruptions of COVID-19. It examines the “victim-offender trap”, a moral and psychological paradox that makes empathy difficult for outsiders. The result is a deeply human investigation into how modern slavery adapts to digital capitalism.

This episode was produced by NYSEAN Partner, theNew Books Network.