Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos now host a multibillion-dollar criminal industry built on cyber fraud, human trafficking and forced labour
New Delhi – South-east Asia has quietly transformed into the command hub of one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal economies: large-scale online fraud driven by organised scam centres. Over the past few years, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have become safe havens for sprawling criminal compounds involved in everything from financial scams and money laundering to human trafficking and systematic forced labour.
What exactly are scam centres?
Scam centres are heavily guarded compounds, often located in lawless border belts, that function as industrial-scale fraud factories. These operations are typically controlled by transnational crime syndicates that recruit workers from across the world under the false promise of high-paying office jobs.
Victims — many from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America — are lured with legitimate-looking job offers. Once they arrive, their passports are confiscated, movement is restricted and they are forced to run online scams for long hours. Using social media platforms, messaging apps and increasingly sophisticated AI tools, they target thousands of potential victims daily through investment frauds, romance scams, phishing attempts and tech-support impersonations.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “South-east Asia has become ground zero for the global scamming industry.”
A lawless frontier: Thai–Myanmar border turns into a hotbed
The political breakdown in Myanmar since the 2021 military takeover has played a significant role in the proliferation of these centres. Remote border regions, particularly along the Thai–Myanmar frontier, have seen a dramatic rise in such compounds. Satellite evidence and independent research suggest the number of scam sites in this belt has more than doubled in the past four years.
Areas such as Myawaddy in Myanmar, Bokeo in Laos and Sihanoukville in Cambodia have effectively turned into hubs where criminal groups operate with little or no state interference. In several cases, local militias, corrupt officials or private security groups are believed to shield or directly profit from these centres.
A massive human trafficking crisis
The humanitarian dimension is even more disturbing. UN estimates indicate that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar, and around 100,000 in Cambodia are likely being held and forced to work inside scam compounds.
Testimonies from rescued workers describe an environment of coercion, physical abuse and surveillance. Failure to meet fraud “quotas” often results in beatings, electric shocks, food deprivation or threats of further violence. Some victims are told they must pay a hefty “release fee” — running into thousands of dollars — to regain their freedom.
Many have likened these centres to modern-day slave camps fuelled by digital crime.
A global criminal industry with worldwide victims
Even though the operations are concentrated in South-east Asia, their financial footprint spans the globe. Victims of these scams have been reported in the United States, Europe, India, China, the Gulf countries and Australia. With AI-generated deepfake videos, voice cloning and targeted social-engineering tools, the fraud networks have become more sophisticated and harder to detect.
Workers trapped inside these centres are tasked with initiating thousands of conversations daily — building trust, fabricating stories and eventually extracting money from unsuspecting users worldwide.
Regional crackdowns show mixed results
Governments in the region have begun stepping up action, though results remain uneven.
Thailand has cut off power, fuel and internet to several compounds operating near its borders.
Myanmar’s military recently claimed to have raided a major scam centre, detaining over 2,100 individuals and seizing a large number of Starlink terminals used to maintain uninterrupted connectivity. Experts caution that these actions, while significant, address only the surface layer of a deeply rooted problem. Without political stability in Myanmar and coordinated global enforcement targeting the financial and recruitment pipelines, the industry is likely to expand further.
The bottom line
The rise of scam centres in South-east Asia represents far more than a cybercrime surge — it is a full-fledged system of exploitation built on human trafficking, organised violence and industrial-scale fraud. The multibillion-dollar industry continues to grow, affecting millions worldwide and trapping tens of thousands in conditions resembling digital slavery.
Analysts warn that unless international cooperation intensifies, the crisis could worsen rapidly, posing both humanitarian and economic risks across continents.
