According to recent estimates, the cyber-enabled fraud industry operating out of the Mekong sub-region may now boast a labor force in excess of 350,000. Who are these people exactly and what is to be done about them?
The early days of Southeast Asia’s “scamdemic” were dominated by horrific reports of abuse emerging from counter-trafficking advocates and media reports. It is fair to say that the issue initially rose to global prominence largely on the back of these shocking stories, which were frequently supported by disturbing visual evidence.
As the world begins to better understand the industry, it is now abundantly clear that these are not isolated cases. The scam industry is following a well-established pattern of rampant abuse, which defines the bottom of the pyramid in a wide array of criminal industries.
