Sustained crackdown needed on cyber scam networks in SE Asia

SOUTHEAST Asia’s emergence as the ground zero of transnational cyber scam networks calls for a coordinated global effort to protect victims and step up prevention efforts. The United Nations has described the situation as a humanitarian and human rights crisis. The victims include not just those defrauded online. More than 2,400 Indians have been rescued after being lured with fake job offers and forcibly made to engage in cybercrime. According to the Centre, over 20,000 Indians could still be working in the scam compounds primarily located in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. Gullible job-seekers from across the world are fraudulently recruited and once trafficked, are subjected to torture and extreme working conditions. Forced to target citizens of other countries, they are not freed unless a ransom is paid. Any attempt to escape can prove to be fatal.