
Once a restaurant manager in the heartland of China, Zhang Hongliang found himself in an array of jobs both domestically and internationally to sustain his family after losing his job amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
An opportunity surfaced in March, when he received a job offer to train Chinese cuisine in a restaurant. However, it led him into the shadows of a cyber scam compound in Myanmar, where he was assigned a harsh task of coaxing fellow countrymen to forsake their savings for sham investment schemes through social media channels.
Zhang’s story is not unique. He is one among tens of thousands, predominantly Chinese, ensnared in digital fraud networks steered by potent Chinese mobsters based in Southeast Asia. Local and Chinese authorities have detained thousands of individuals during their crackdown of these networks, but experts pose concerns about the inability to curtail the local elites and criminal circles who have the potential to perpetuate these schemes.
Cyber scam operations, notorious for their resilience, resurface elsewhere when shut down at one location, causing discomfiture to Beijing and discouraging average Chinese citizens from visiting Southeast Asia due to fright of being deceived or apprehended in a cyber scam operation.
Instances from recent years reveal young individuals falling prey to these scams, lured to Cambodia or Myanmar for lure of high-paying jobs, only to be forced into cyber scam operations. These victims often face physical punishment or violent treatment for underperformance.
In a collaborative approach to combat cyber scams, China, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar resolved to establish a joint police operations center in August. Subsequently, in October, China’s Ministry of Public Security reported the successful extradition of 2,317 scam suspects from northern Myanmar back to China under the “Summer Operation”.
Though China tagged these extradited individuals as suspects, experts argue that most of them are victims compelled into crime. Questions loom over their treatment upon repatriation to China.
These scam operations, primarily based in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar have Chinese honchos running the show in collaboration with the regional elites. Several operations run in areas where China under the leadership of Xi Jinping has significantly invested in infrastructural development, part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Covered under the neglect of the local law enforcement, Myanmar’s border regions offer a sanctuary for criminals, traditionally harbouring drug manufacturers and traffickers. These territories largely lie under the control of rebellious or allied ethnic minority armed squadrons, with some forging alliances with organized crime syndicates.
Jason Tower, an expert on cross-border crimes affiliated with the United States Institute of Peace, notes the considerable embarrassment this problem poses to the Chinese Government, with the wake of Chinese criminals operating all over Southeast Asia.
The operations are notorious for their “pig butchering” scams where unsuspecting victims, often located halfway across the world, lose their investment in non-existent schemes after being lured in digital romances.
Zhang’s ordeal began in Thailand, he was on a visa run to Laos when he encountered Gao, the man who would eventually lead him to the scam compound. Gao, who introduced himself as a mediator and travel agent serving Chinese residing in Thailand, lured Zhang to eastern Myanmar’s Kayin state by promising him double wages to work at his new restaurant.
Despite his apprehensions regarding the civil unrest in post-coup Myanmar, Gao convinced him to shift to Myawaddy. It was only upon arrival in Myanmar, that he realized the severity of his predicament. He managed to escape one night by crossing the Moei River into Thailand, where he surrendered to Thai police.
With approximately 4,000 suspects detained and then returned to China, the crackdown on these operations through coordinated efforts with Myanmar authorities seems to be making progress. Experts, however, believe more concentrated efforts are required to prevent the groups from relocating their operations elsewhere.
The need for a durable solution cannot be overstated. While the impacts are visible in borderland areas, a sustained effort will be instrumental in permanently eradicating these cybercrime syndicates.