The Battle Against Scam Networks in Southeast Asia
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra vows to take action against illegal scam networks (Wikipedia Commons).
In a concerted effort to dismantle pervasive scam networks in Southeast Asia, China, and Thailand have intensified their collaborative crackdown, leading to significant developments in recent weeks.
On February 13, 2025, Thai authorities announced the repatriation of approximately 260 foreign nationals who had been trafficked into Myanmar and coerced into operating online scam centers. These individuals, hailing from countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, and China, were transferred from Myanmar’s Myawaddy district to Thailand. The Thai army emphasized its commitment to verifying the victims' statuses and gathering intelligence to further combat human trafficking and fraudulent operations.
This development follows a high-profile meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in Beijing on February 6, 2025. During the meeting, Paetongtarn vowed to “take resolute and effective measures to combat cross-border crimes.” These nations have emerged as hotspots for online scam operations, where individuals are deceived by false promises of lucrative employment, only to be trafficked and coerced into cybercrime, money laundering, and data disinformation.
Online scam centers have been operating across Southeast Asia in regions throughout Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, with deep ties to Chinese criminal networks. Alongside the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, scam networks expanded their influence with government backing. The Myanmar country director at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has characterized the scam operations as a “global security crisis.” Especially due to the rise of technology in recent decades and the scope of AI, fraud networks such as these have expanded in complexity and ease of operation to a disturbing degree. An estimated 305,000 scammers in these countries steal $39 billion annually, making up a significant share of the $63.9 billion global total.
Fraud factories in Southeast Asia emerged after the region’s gambling industry collapsed, with Chinese criminal groups converting casinos and hotels into cyber-scamming hubs. Before Covid-19, these groups invested billions, expecting lucrative tourism-driven profits. When the pandemic shut down travel, they shifted to trafficking victims and forcing them into online scams that generate billions. Trafficking victims have been subject to “unimaginable violence on a daily basis,” according to Benedict Hofmann, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Deputy Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. He visited a scam farm in Northern Philippines earlier last year that has since been raided.
In a strategic move to disrupt these illicit operations, Thai authorities have implemented measures such as cutting off electricity, fuel, and internet supplies to areas along the Thai-Myanmar border known for harboring scam centers. This action underscores Thailand's resolve to dismantle the infrastructure supporting these criminal enterprises.
The crackdown gained momentum following the kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing in Thailand, who was subsequently rescued from a scam compound in Myanmar. This incident exposed the transnational nature of these criminal networks and the risks they pose to citizens across the region. In response, China has expressed gratitude to Thailand for its decisive actions and has pledged to bolster cooperation in law enforcement and security to protect individuals from such threats.