TOPIC

Southeast Asia forced-labour scams

Southeast Asia forced-labour scams
Overseas job scams are rising sharply with many being lured to Southeast Asia and forced into illegal work. Cases involving Hongkongers were first revealed in 2022.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (centre) looks on as Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow (right) shakes hands with Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn during a meeting in China’s Yunnan province on December 29, 2025. Photo: Agence Kampuchea Presse/AFP
Thailand

Ruling Thai party vows to end Cambodia conflict, close scam hubs if it wins poll

Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Bhumjaithai’s second candidate after Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, believes his party has popular support.

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Thailand

Suspected scam boss linked to South Korean student’s death arrested in Thailand

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Scams and swindles

Editorial | Regional cooperation led to arrest of alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi

Cambodia

Cambodia dissolves accused scam tycoon Chen Zhi’s Prince Bank

The central bank said the lender has been ‘suspended from providing new banking services, including accepting deposits and providing credit’.

A Prince Bank branch in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: AFP
Myanmar

Asian Angle | How uneven borders fuel Myanmar’s vast and resilient scam economy

Fieldwork along the borders of China and Thailand reveals how uneven controls allow fraud networks to thrive despite crackdowns.

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Malaysia

Malaysian forced to scam Hongkongers recalls nightmare in Myanmar

Chew said he would be ‘beaten, electrocuted or starved for more than a week’ if he ‘failed’ in his task.

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Malaysia

31 Malaysians repatriated from Myanmar job scam syndicate

The job scam victims rescued from a Myawaddy job syndicate return home safely after intensive diplomatic negotiations and a 26-hour land journey.

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People from China, Vietnam, and Ethiopia – believed trafficked and forced to work in scam centers – sit masked in detention after their February release in Myawaddy, eastern Myanmar. Photo: AP
Singapore

Singapore arrests US-sanctioned yacht captain linked to tycoon Chen Zhi

Police said Nigel Tang was arrested for his ‘suspected involvement in money laundering offences’ related to the alleged scam empire boss.

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Scams and swindles

Video | China extradites scam suspects from Myanmar

The extraditions follow Myanmar’s raids on multiple scam compounds since October 2025.

Scams and swindles

Letters | Cambodia is confronting the scourge of online scams head-on

Readers discuss the cross-border effort targeting the syndicates behind Cambodia’s scam farms, Malaysia’s first fully home-grown EV, and the investigation into the Tai Po fire in Hong Kong.

Suspects are detained during a police raid on a scam centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on July 16. The operation was part of a nationwide crackdown on cybercrime networks, following Prime Minister Hun Manet’s order to shut down online scam operations often run like sweatshops. Photo: EPA
Thailand

‘Everyone gets a cut’: why Southeast Asia’s scam industry refuses to die

Authorities are seizing assets and raiding compounds, but analysts warn the clumsy crackdown is merely scattering syndicates to new hideouts.

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A woman counts US dollars and Japanese yen banknotes in Phnom Penh. Scam money’s reach extends far beyond the Mekong. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

Escaped Malaysian reveals torture, rape inside Cambodia job scam centre

Muhammad Syafiq said hundreds of Malaysians are still trapped in the Phnom Penh site, where he was beaten up daily.

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South Korea

Seoul sanctions Prince Group chairman Chen Zhi in Cambodia crime crackdown

Chen Zhi, the chairman of the Prince Group, is accused of overseeing scam compounds that detained dozens of South Koreans.

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Singapore

Singapore deepens probe into Chen Zhi’s alleged scam empire with fresh raid

The city state’s police raided a car loan company that borrowed from a firm linked to the tycoon’s Prince Holding Group.

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Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi. Photo: Prince Holding Group
The Philippines

Alice Guo gets life term for human trafficking linked to Philippine scam hub

The verdict comes at a time when Asean leaders have expressed alarm over rising cybercrimes perpetrated by transnational gangs.

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Alice Guo attends a hearing at the Senate in Manila over accusations of human trafficking in September 2024. Photo: AFP
Asean

Asean unifies under single extradition treaty to fight organised crime

The treaty is expected to plug major cooperation gaps by creating uniform rules across a region struggling with cybercrime and trafficking.

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Japan

Cambodian tycoon linked to scam empire owned luxury condo in Tokyo

The Prince Holding Group boss, who is accused of running a conglomerate built on cyberscam operations, visited Japan frequently.

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US-Asean relations

What US anti-scam ‘strike force’ means for Southeast Asia’s cybercrime fight

Analysts say the US initiative can serve as a coordination blueprint to push back against transnational criminal enterprises.

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US Attorney Jeanine Pirro points to a text message sent by a scammer as she announces the Scam Centre Strike Force in Washington on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Cryptocurrency

US, Chinese authorities ramp up actions against syndicates running crypto scams

Syndicates either trick or coerce targeted victims to invest in bogus schemes and transfer funds via bitcoin, ether or stablecoins.

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Thailand

Video | Thailand extradites gambling kingpin She Zhijiang to China

She Zhijiang will stand trial in China for illegal casino operations.

Cambodia

Chen Zhi’s firm breaks silence, denies tycoon’s empire built on scam money

Prince Holding Group vowed to clear its name amid global asset seizures and forced labour allegations.

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Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi. Photo: Prince Holding Group
Singapore

Whisky, limos, missing millions: how Chen Zhi’s Singapore empire unravelled

Court filings reveal how David Wong allegedly orchestrated an internal heist at the Prince Group boss’ Singapore family office.

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Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi. Photo: Prince Holding Group
Myanmar

Why many in raided Myanmar scam hub chose US$1,400 pay over ‘chance’ to flee

Several scammers stayed put to pursue new opportunities in the black market following the sweep of KK Park, a sprawling fraud factory.

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Singapore

Singapore seizes US$115 million in assets linked to tycoon behind scam hub

Police said probe into the Prince Group boss started last year after receiving intelligence from the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office.

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South Korea

South Korea, Cambodia form joint task force to tackle scam networks

About 2,000 South Koreans are estimated to have been ensnared in online scam operations in Cambodia.

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South Koreans suspected of being involved in online scams are herded together during a raid on a scam centre in Phnom Penh on Thursday. Photo: Agence Kampuchea Press/AFP
Myanmar

Video | Myanmar scam workers swim for Thai border

More than 600 people fled one of Myanmar’s scam compounds and crossed into Thailand, with some choosing to swim across the Moei river.

Hundreds flee Myanmar’s scam compounds for Thailand
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Hong Kong stock market

Director of Hong Kong-listed FSM Holdings resigns amid Cambodia allegations

Resignation follows US authorities’ accusation that Li Thet was involved with criminal network linked to Prince Holding Group.

South Korea

Why South Korea’s Gen Z are falling prey to the scam gangs of Southeast Asia

They leave home lured by promises of lucrative work only to face exploitation, torture and death in Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and beyond.

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