Pig Butchering Scams: Inside the scam Call Centres Forcing victims into Fraud

Tell us your story here!This week, Scams, Hacks and Frauds asks what really goes on inside an Internet scam call centre? This week we go deep into the pig butchering scam industry — and the shocking truth that many of the people running these internet scams are themselves victims.We tell the story of a chef who travelled to Southeast Asia looking for work and found himself trafficked into a scam call centre in Myanmar, forced to run pig butchering scams against his will; and a Chinese actor lured to Myanmar by a fake job offer and taken at gunpoint across the border to the Apollo Business Centre — one of the largest internet scam call centres in the region.These aren't small operations.  Scam call centres are vast, heavily resourced complexes connected via satellite internet, complete with full video studios that make pig-butchering scams look legitimate. The people staffing them are often trafficked victims facing beatings, imprisonment, and extortion... and they spend 16 hours a day running Pig Butchering Internet Scams.We also look at how social media pressure and international cooperation led to a dramatic raid that freed thousands — and what each of us can do to make internet scams harder to run... and to get an idea of the size and scope of these centres, as well as the applling conditions within them, we speak to the Strategic Human Firewall Robert Siciliano, and ask how can people better protect themselves.We (usually) publish new content every other Monday. The short time our episodes save your wallet, and help protect your family.If you like shows like "The Perfect Scam" or "Darknet Diaries" then this show might be for you.  On our website you’ll find more computer hacking, identity fraud, impersonation, consumer rights and Romance Scams.  To find these and to access our transcripts, visit us at www.scamshacksandfrauds.com.The transcript and spoken audio are available under the Creative Commons, Share Alike, With Attributions license. For more information on this visit creativecommons.org.