Over 1,800 people arrested in crack down on Asia-based scam operations

HONG KONG AP More than people have been arrested in a joint operation across Asia targeting scam networks police in Hong Kong commented on Tuesday The crack down involving government in six other jurisdictions successfully intercepted fraudulent funds involving about million Wong Chun-yue chief superintendent of the city s police s commercial crime bureau noted The scam networks were closed down during the operation jointly conducted by South Korea Thailand Singapore and neighboring Chinese gambling hub Macao he explained The operation which also involved functionaries from Malaysia and the Maldives targeted cases of online shopping and telephone scams as well as venture and employment frauds Nearly accounts were frozen in the month to May Wong stated Those arrested were aged between and In one incident in March a finance director in Singapore was scammed through deep-fake videos by someone who claimed to be the chief executive at a multinational corporation The victim transferred to Hong Kong mentioned Aileen Yap assistant director of Singapore police s anti-scam command Through cross-border cooperation the money was recovered she reported The casualties of scams and online fraud often include not only those defrauded but also the workers used by scamming operations with staff facing threats violence and poor working conditions A United Nations review in April discovered transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their scam operations across the globe For several years scam compounds have proliferated in Southeast Asia especially in perimeter areas of Cambodia Laos and Myanmar as well as in the Philippines shifting operations from site to site to stay a step ahead of the police according to the overview issued by the U N Office on Drugs and Crime The scam centers in Myanmar Cambodia and Laos are notorious for luring people to work in them under false pretences Staff are often forced to financially exploit people around the world through false romances bogus capital pitches and illegal gambling schemes Several workers find themselves trapped in virtual slavery Source