Hi Guys,
Have you ever received a scam tech support call from someone saying that you need to install an urgent update, resulting in malware being planted on your device? Or have you received a scam call from somebody pretending to be from your bank asking you to confirm your banking passwords? Or have you been the victim of a romance scam where somebody pretends to be in love with you in the hopes that you will wire them money to help with an urgent family emergency? Scams like these happen daily, and the chances are you, or someone you know, has been targeted.
What you do not know is that some of these calls are being carried out by enslaved people, who are being held against their will and forced to do this. They are beaten and tortured into committing these acts of cybercrime on behalf of the mafia.
In this explosive report by the LA Times titled “I was a slave’: Up to 100,000 held captive by Chinese cybercriminals in Cambodia’, David Pierson interviews several people who have been enslaved in this illegal industry. You can read the full article HERE, but in a nutshell:
“Lured by the promise of legitimate employment, they are instead forced to run online and telephone rackets targeting people around the world with gambling, money lending and romance schemes, to name a few. Other scams have included fake real estate developments and bogus initial coin offerings.
The criminals are limited only by their imagination,” said Jason Tower, an executive at the United States Institute of Peace and an expert on transnational Chinese crime syndicates. “These are sophisticated schemes.
Workers who meet their targets are rewarded. Those who fail are tortured, abused and sold like chattel to other gangs on private messaging apps such as Telegram. Reports of murder, depression and suicidal ideation are rampant.
The syndicates run their operations not unlike private companies trying to motivate a sales force. The big difference: Employees aren’t allowed to leave.
“Instead of getting fired for poor performance, you get physical punishments — forced push-ups and squats, tased, beaten, deprived of food, locked up in dark rooms or worse,” said Jacob Sims, country director for International Justice Mission Cambodia, a rights group that has helped rescue more than 100 victims. “On the other hand, those who consistently meet or surpass their targets are rewarded with more freedoms, food, money and control over other victims.”
You can also watch a film of 40 people swimming to Vietnam after escaping from a Cambodian casino in August of this year. The film is about halfway down this page HERE.
When you receive another scam call, ask the person if they are ok and if they need you to call the police.
I hope you are well.
Max Roberts,
Incognito Privacy Care Team