Crack down on Asia-based scam operations nets more than 1,800 people

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HONG KONG — More than 1,800 people have been arrested in a joint operation across Asia targeting scam networks, police in Hong Kong said on Tuesday.

The crack down involving authorities in six other jurisdictions successfully intercepted fraudulent funds involving about $20 million, Wong Chun-yue, chief superintendent of the city’s police’s commercial crime bureau, said.

The scam networks were closed down during the operation jointly conducted by South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and neighbouring Chinese gambling hub Macao, he said.

The operation, which also involved authorities from Malaysia and the Maldives, targeted cases of online shopping and telephone scams, as well as investment and employment frauds. Nearly 33,000 accounts were frozen in the month to May 28, Wong said. Those arrested were aged between 14 and 81.

In one case in March, a finance director in Singapore was scammed through deep-fake videos by someone who claimed to be the chief executive at a multinational corporation. The victim transferred $499,000 to Hong Kong, said Aileen Yap, assistant director of Singapore police’s anti-scam command. Through cross-border cooperation, the money was recovered, she said.

The victims of scams and online fraud often include not only those defrauded but also the workers used by scamming operations, with staff facing threats, violence and poor working conditions.

A United Nations report in April found transnational organized crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are spreading their scam operations across the globe.

For several years, scam compounds have proliferated in Southeast Asia, especially in border areas of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as in the Philippines, shifting operations from site to site to stay a step ahead of the police, according to the report issued by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

The scam centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are notorious for luring people to work in them under false pretences. Staff are often forced to financially exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Many workers find themselves trapped in virtual slavery.