The Scam Scourge in Southeast Asia

Addressing the region’s notorious scam hubs require proactive government efforts and strong international coordination.

In January, a Chinese actor flew to Bangkok for an acting job offered online. He was kidnapped and taken to a scam compound in Myawaddy in Myanmar across the border from Thailand. Three days later, he was rescued, brought back to Thailand and returned safely to China.

In July, a Korean college student went to Cambodia for a high-paying job offer. Three weeks later, his tortured body was discovered in the country’s southern Kampot province. His cremated remains arrived in South Korea in October after a joint autopsy with Cambodian authorities.

Though both cases ended differently, they share one thing in common: scams. Both victims were scammed through fraudulent job offers then coerced to scam others online while trapped and tortured in various scam hubs.

Operated by Chinese criminal gangs, these scam hubs are mostly in areas where China has financed big construction projects under its Belt and Road Initiative. They are notorious for various cybercrimes. They generate an estimated $64 billion annually from voice phising, online romance or pig-butchering scam, bogus investment offers, and illegal gambling schemes. To sustain their operations, these syndicates resort to kidnapping, torture, slavery, prostitution, money laundering, drug trade, and human trafficking.

Scam centres in Myanmar and Cambodia “have evolved on an industrial scale, have gone out of control, and have gone too far”. They thrive due to inadequate financial institutions, weak law enforcement, government corruption, and the collusion between criminal groups and state authorities.  

In Myanmar with declining international aid and widespread sanctions, its political instability provides fertile ground for illegal activities to sustain its economy. Its military junta is hampered by the various militias and armed rebel groups in the country that are complicit to or even protective of these syndicates in exchange for a cut in scam profits.

In Cambodia where government collusion and corruption are evident, its huge scam industry "has already displaced the formal legitimate economy,” making it difficult for the political elites to destroy it. Amnesty International reveals “the horrifying magnitude of a crisis the Cambodian authorities are not doing enough to stop. Their failures have emboldened a criminal network whose tentacles extend internationally.”

In both countries, complicity between the police and scam bosses allow these cybercrimes to thrive. According to reports of police rescue, authorities in many instances would “simply meet a manager or security guard at the gate, where they would be handed the individual(s) who had called in for help. Business then continued as usual”.

These domestic challenges make regional cooperation even more critical as Southeast Asia is regarded as the epicenter of cybercrimes. Aside from the two countries, Laos is another scam hotspot. The Philippines and Malaysia are also sources of online fraud operations, while Thailand is a key transit hub for trafficked workers. Given the  cross-border nature of these scams, regional coordination is important to dismantle transnational criminal networks through intelligence sharing, joint investigations, and mutual legal assistance. As the 2025 ASEAN chair, Malaysia can push to strengthen these regional initiatives.

There are recent government efforts to hinder criminal operations. In January, Thailand has cut electricity, fuel and internet supply in five border areas in Myanmar. In July, Cambodia has raided several scam centres , arrested hundreds of suspects, and deported thousands of enslaved foreign workers. In October, Myanmar’s military has confiscated 30 Starlink satellite terminals after capturing a scam compound as it expands control of Myawaddy. Even if just “for show”, the raids in both countries are vital in rescuing victims and thwarting scam operations.

The US and the UK have initiated sanctions this year against criminal entities.  Millions of Americans have lost at least $10 billion since 2024 to scam operations in Southeast Asia, which led to the US Treasury Department’s financial injunctions in September against nine targets in Myanmar and 10 in Cambodia. Along with the US, the UK governmenthas also imposed sanctions against Cambodia-based Prince Group led by its Chairman Chen Zhi in October, effectively freezing its investment properties in the country and businesses in the British Virgin Islands.

South Korea and China are also expected to intensify efforts in eradicating cybercrimes. Following the repatriation of its citizens, the Korean government is also considering sanctions against similar entities aside from imposing a travel ban in some areas in Cambodia. China, whose citizens are both the scam bosses and victims, can employ more political pressure and targeted sanctions where these crimes are located. It can also strengthen law enforcement cooperation with countries to arrest and convict more criminals, similar to how the Chinese court has sentenced 11 gang leaders to death for their illegal activities in Myanmar. China's efforts to address the issue and repair its image have so far not made much headway. But according to Jason Tower, an expert on transnational crime with the United States Institute of Peace, the Chinese government should do more since “it’s a source of extreme embarrassment that you have so many of these Chinese criminals operating all across Southeast Asia”.

Despite these efforts, scams continue to thrive. There is a growing gap between the speed of the criminal organizations’ schemes and technological advancement, and the response of governments in the region.  States must catch up as these cybercrime networks stay ahead and continue to scam millions worldwide. For the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, authorities can also consider a “more strategic whole-of-government” and human rights-based approach aside from merely “focusing on law enforcement response”.

Slavery and cybercrimes in these scam hubs thrive “when governments look away,” according to Amnesty International. Though governments are now paying attention, the high-profile cases of the Chinese actor in Myanmar and the Korean student in Cambodia that generated public outrage expose their ill-equipped and reactive efforts against online scams. States must take a more proactive human rights approach and law enforcement measure within their borders, as well as strengthen and sustain international coordination to combat transnational crimes. The more countries work together, share expertise and information, the better they can be prepared to address this issue.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of IIPA and this platform.

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Author

Andrea Chloe Wong is a non-resident research fellow at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs, Christchurch, New Zealand. She has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and formerly served as a Senior Foreign Affairs Research Specialist at the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of Foreign Affairs Philippines.

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