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This photo taken on July 18, 2024, shows devices used in a scam center in Manila that has been shut down by police. Scam centres have mushroomed across Southeast Asia, with crime syndicates luring, kidnapping or coercing workers into predatory online activity, and raking in billions of dollars. Manila, Philippines—It started with a raid on a Chinese-run online gambling center north of Manila where hundreds of foreigners and Filipinos were forced to run scams or risk torture.
Authorities believe there could be several hundred illegal online gambling entities—as well as a good number of the more than 40 licensed operators—that are running scam centers under the noses of public officials. “This committee hearing is in the process of uncovering a deep and deadly web of bad actors involving international criminal syndicates, local and national politicians, and perhaps malevolent elements of a foreign state.”
Victims have reported travelling across the region, often on the pretense of romance or high-paying jobs, but finding themselves forced instead to cajole people into ploughing money into fake investment platforms and other ruses. Many lost their licenses in 2023 and went underground. Authorities are now racing to shut them all down.
Dylan, a Malaysian national in his 20s, worked there for a month after a friend tricked him into visiting the complex.
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