Scam operations where thousands of trafficked individuals endure grueling 16-hour workdays have been uncovered as the origin of fraudulent messages sent to unsuspecting Americans daily.

The so-called workers are reportedly subjected to beatings, electric shocks, and threats at gunpoint while sending these messages from call center “cities” situated near the Myanmar/Thailand border.

In a series of groundbreaking revelations and personal testimonies, investigative journalist Denise Chan uncovered the vast multi-billion dollar network of organizations that lure people with promises of great jobs, only to trap them in a nightmare existence.

Chan has laid bare to The U.S. Sun the nightmare uncovered in her podcast series Scam Factory which follows two Filipino siblings, Charlie and Max, on their journey and attempted escape from a nightmare situation.

The show follows Charlie, who helps her younger brother Max land a dream job abroad.

But when Max arrives, the job does not exist.

Instead, he is trapped in a heavily-guarded compound where armed guards have shoot-to-kill orders.

For Charlie, the only way to free her beloved brother is to dive deeper into the underworld.

With the help of Thai based Colonel Dominador Matalang, reporter Chan worked tirelessly to help the pair escape the hell of being sucked into the scam culture.

“At its heart,” Chan says, “this is a family story.”

According to a recent report by the United States Institute of Peace, there are an estimated total of more than 300,000 scammers in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos that account for at least $40 billion in stolen funds worldwide.

The fallout from Myanmar’s 2021 military takeover has turned the once-quiet border with Thailand into a hotbed of crime and corruption.

Ruthless Chinese crime syndicates have swooped in, cutting deals with warring factions to replace lush rainforests with shady high-rise hubs dedicated to pulling off massive online scams.

While officials fail to crack down, Myanmar’s militia bosses and Chinese gangsters are smuggling tens of thousands of desperate workers across the border to fuel their criminal empires, according to shocking reports from the United Nations.

Working in conjunction with a local Thai reporter, Los Angeles based Chan was told about how Charlie and Max had just escaped from one of the gleaming new compounds built with dirty money.

Strips of restaurants and hotels have sprung up out of nowhere and, according to Chan, give this nondescript area of Myanmar, which was unaffected by the recent devastating earthquakes.

Initially, Max was told about a job opportunity in Cambodia from friends and, desperate to boost his very modest income, accepted without hesitation.

Max was making about $250 a month driving his family van and doing gig work. This job was offering $1,000 a month.

“The salary was so enticing,” admitted Chan.

SUCKED IN

The adverts mentioned a customer service role for an online gambling casino abroad, which would also appear randomly in chat groups on the likes of Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook.

Interested parties would be told about travelling to Bangkok, with travel and accommodation costs included.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything. We’ll post you up, and then we’ll get you to the compound,” the scammers tell their targets.

As the unwitting employees head onto the bus, they are driven to the border and taken on a boat across the river to Myanmar. The drivers play dumb, stressing they don’t speak the same language, Chan explained.

As the magical mystery tour deepens, worried texts are exchanged with the recruiters. The answers would come back with fake reassurance.

“At that point, they don’t really have any other options,” stressed Chan. “They just have to trust what they’re being told and go along with it. That’s how many of them end up in these compounds.”

They are just luring you until you will be trapped.

Colonel Dominador Matalang

Upon arrival, the now bewildered men and women who’ve been cooped up in a bus for eight hours are greeted by the sight of a “micro city” which has sprung up in the middle of nowhere.

There are mid-rise buildings with dorms and offices, but also casinos, hotels, streets of restaurants, and karaoke bars. It’s like a fully functioning city.

“It’s bizarre,” admitted Chan. “They’re specifically designed to support these scam operations. It’s a whole infrastructure built around exploiting people.”

The luxury amenities, which began springing up during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when employment and loneliness levels rose exponentially giving scammers a golden opportunity to strike, are for the bosses but the sheer scale, according to the investigative reporter, is “shocking.”

Chan says the pace of building in the last five years has been “insane.”

With Myanmar in the midst of a civil war, it’s allowed the scammers to wreak havoc with people’s lives.

“For law enforcement, especially from outside jurisdictions, it’s nearly impossible to operate in these areas,” continued Chan.

“The lack of centralized control and oversight makes it a hotbed for these kinds of operations.”

PUBLIC ATTENTION

Two high profile incidents involving a Hong Kong pop star and a Chinese actor who became entangled in the plots have forced leaders from China and Thailand to come forward, saying they’re committed to cracking down on these operations.

At the end of February, 7,000 people were freed from several compounds in Myanmar.

Nevertheless, people like Max have already been sucked into the nightmare.

Upon arrival at the compounds, many are able to put the hellish start to the journey to one side after being greeted with the gleaming amenities offered.

Guides usher people to their accommodations, and told to relax before starting work the next day.

It didn’t take long, however, for the fear to set in.

Immediately once entering the office, cell phones were taken away and given to the bosses who would scroll through and monitor their communications.  Everything was tightly controlled, they claimed.

They were under constant surveillance. CCTV cameras were everywhere, and their bosses also monitored their computer screens. They’d be given a list of leads and instructed to start contacting people. It’s essentially a numbers game—they’re texting as many people as possible, trying to build relationships and see who takes the bait.

The Colonel admits physical violence is commonplace. Victims are beaten, electronically shocked, and put in “dark rooms” and “water jails.”

They are, continued the Colonel, sold openly between the companies, mainly when their performance is low in scamming, or they complain too much.

All victims were told that they owed the company money.

The fee the companies claim includes food, accommodations, travel, and other items that were agreed upon as being “free.”

Bosses added the cost they used to purchase victims onto victims’ debt.

UNEASY FEELING

In Max’s case, they would pose as recruiters, using the names of legitimate companies like Amazon or Indeed to make it seem credible.

Watching his coworkers, he realized something wasn’t right.

He started questioning, “Wait a minute, this isn’t some sort of online casino gig. Why are you all chatting with random people? What exactly are we doing here?”

That’s when the awful truth him.

He was there to scam people – and his coworkers confirmed it.

Chan says a massive red flag is when the scammer asks to move the conversation to WhatsApp or another platform, stressing bona fide companies simply wouldn’t operate in this way.

Another ploy would be to unleash a hotel booking scam.

According to Chan, they’d say, “I work for a company that helps hotels improve their ratings. All you need to do is rate some hotels, and we’ll pay you a commission.”

At first, it’s straightforward. But as the interaction progresses, people at the other end of the line are asked to put in money to continue.

“For example,” explains Chan, “they’ll say, ‘To rate more hotels, you need to book one. Don’t worry—we’ll reimburse you and pay you a 15% bonus.’ ”

They’ll often recreate a legitimate-looking website to make it seem real, but it’s all made up, she added.

Another red flag is when they ask to set up a cryptocurrency account for payments.

“Crypto is hard to trace, which is why scammers love using it,” said Chan.

“It might start small, like $20, but then it escalates to $100, $500, and so on. The scary and manipulative part is how they build trust. The scammers are trained to make victims feel like they’re on their side.”

If someone says they are unable to afford the amount asked for, the scammer might respond, “How much do you have? I’ll help you by putting in some of my own money.”

MASSIVE MONEY

It’s all part of the sick script to keep the victim engaged in what has become a billion-dollar industry.

Max told Chan his team’s daily quota was $25,000. With 13 people on the team, that’s about $2,000 per person — every day.

That, however, is just one team in one company. Some compounds have hundreds of people working across multiple floors.

If quotas aren’t met, overtime might be dished out or meal cards confiscated. In some cases, people are physically hurt for falling too far behind, they said.

For Max and Jane, their target audience was in New Zealand, where night shifts matched the time zone.

A shift would start at 5 p.m. and continue for 16 hours straight, often seven days a week. The bosses would only give employees one or two days off a week.

“Once he got into the office, he knew something was off. His coworkers and bosses told him straight up, ‘This is your job now. You have to do it, whether you want to or not,'” revealed Chan.

The cruel bosses made it clear that armed guards were stationed everywhere, with shoot-to-kill orders.

The environment, says Chan, was “incredibly aggressive and intimidating.”

Max wanted to escape, but with the compound surrounded by armed guards, barbed wire, and gates, it was hugely problematic.

That is when his sister, Charlie, becomes involved and with the help of the Colonel, is able to save him from the nightmare.

While podcast series like Scam Factories are able to shed light on the troubling rise of the companies, some of whom are able to make upwards of $400,000 a week, a serious crackdown remains in its infancy.

TRAPPED AND ALONE

Speaking to The U.S. Sun via email, the Colonel admitted the scamming operations are continuing to dupe thousands of people, many of whom are still working.

“When I asked them how many remained, they told me it was a greater number than those who opted to be rescued,” he said.

“In fact, while the rescue operation is ongoing, we are also receiving information that they continue recruiting and there were individuals who managed to come to the scamming compounds, but it is not yet clear how they were able to be smuggled /sneaked into the Thailand-Myanmar border.”

He wants the authorities to show “political will” among the affected countries who have the power to stop the operations at source.

But fears remain that unsuspecting victims in the United States remain a firm target. What was once a “regional crime” has now become a “global trafficking crisis with millions of victims.”

“The syndicate conduct their scamming activities with no borders,” continued the Colonel. “The United States is the main scamming target of these syndicates.”

He warns against engaging with any strangers who send messages of job offers.

“If the promises are too good to be true, then it is a red flag and one hundred percent a scam,” warned the Colonel.

“If the recruiter tells the job seeker that all expenses will be provided, including travel expenses with advance salary offer, then it is a scam. They are just luring you until you will be trapped.”