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Thai scam hubs hold up to 100,000 people, police say.
STORY: Despite a weeks-long multinational crackdown, scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border remain operational, Thai police have said, with up to 100,000 people still working there.Here’s Police General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who is leading Thailand’s operations against the fraud compounds.”At the moment, we have not had the whole number but from our evaluation, there could be over 10,000 people involved. It could be up to 50,000 or 100,000 people that are still left because we are still seeing them operating. Their operations are still going on.”:: TPBSThatchai said that based on early assessments of some of the 5,000 people pulled out of sprawling scam hubs in Myanmar’s Myawaddy area, hundreds went there voluntarily.That’s contrary to widespread reports that the scam center victims had been lured there by criminal bosses.However, one analyst said that many people who willingly traveled to areas such as Myawaddy, would later find themselves trapped in conducting scamming operations.Several former scam workers have described being trapped in the compounds, where they were forced to trick strangers online into transferring large amounts of money.These centers are part of a Southeast Asian network of illegal facilities that generate billions of dollars every year, according to the United Nations.And although they have operated for years, they came under renewed scrutiny after a Chinese actor was abducted in Thailand in January.The incident caused a stir on social media, prompting China to send officials to Thailand to help break up scam hubs and rescue its citizens, many of whom have now been flown home.:: TPBSThai authorities are now working to return thousands of scam center victims to their home countries, with many still stranded on the Thai-Myanmar border due to lack of funds.
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