The city built on scams

I often fall into thinking of scammers as the bad guys—calculating and manipulative.

But in many cases, they’re also victims, trapped in exploitative systems that force them into fraud.

That's the brutal reality faced by over 250 workers freed from telecom fraud centres in Myanmar’s Karen (Kayin) State earlier this month.

These workers—lured with false job offers—were tricked into taking part in online scams, including love scams and crypto fraud.

While some volunteered to take part, many were held captive, tortured, and forced to work until their families ponied up for ransoms.

This grim story gained attention recently when an ethnic armed group in Myanmar rescued many of the workers and brought them to Thailand.

Thailand, in turn, has cracked down on these operations, shutting down power to scam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border and tightening its banking and visa regulations.

This has resulted in mounting pressure on armed groups like the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), who are accused of facilitating these fraud operations. Authorities are actively searching for the leaders behind these illegal activities.

The rise of places like Shwe Kokko—a city built on scams—sheds light on this expanding issue.

Just eight years ago, Karen State was mostly forest, but today, the city stands as a glaring example of how scams have infiltrated the region.

Originally, the development was designed as a Chinese-backed luxury development. Now, it's morphed into a hub of fraud, money-laundering, and human trafficking.

Yatai, the company behind the city, has attempted to rebrand Shwe Kokko as a safe resort city. Despite claims of reform, scam centres continue to operate.

The workers freed in this operation represent only a small fraction of those ensnared in these fraudulent systems. From forced labour to torture and ransom, these workers are pawns in a much larger criminal network that spans across multiple countries.

While some willingly engage in the scams, many are just trying to survive in a world that has left them with few options.

As Thailand intensifies its crackdown and China pressures Myanmar to address the issue, the world watches to see whether these scam centres will finally be shut down.

But the bigger question remains: how many others are still trapped in this cycle, lured by false promises and forced into lives of crime?

The line between victim and perpetrator is often blurred, and it’s time to confront the hidden realities behind the scams that flood our phones and emails.