US EditionShe ‘wants to die there.’ The women forced to scam and the families left behind
Women from Asia, Africa, and Europe are trafficked into scam compounds where they face forced labor, sexual abuse, and must use AI tools to conduct billion-dollar scams.
- In a months-long investigation, CNN found women from Asia, Africa and Europe trafficked into Southeast Asian scam compounds, mostly in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, sometimes forced into sex work.
- Amid scarce jobs at home, promised pay up to $6,000 a month lured Filipino workers, while recruiters on Facebook sold workers for 60,000 pesos, exploiting families left behind.
- Inside the compounds, women said they had to memorize scripts and transform into characters using AI face and voice filters, while operators stockpiled SIM cards and computer monitors and used Telegram channels with scam playbook photo packages.
- Authorities raided a nearly 10-hectare compound linked to Chinese crime syndicates last year, and the Philippine Embassy helped rescue victims in April as families petitioned for their return.
- Dismantling the compounds has proven difficult, officials say, as alleged local officials and armed groups in Myanmar complicate enforcement while POGOs fuel a billion-dollar scam industry.
12 Articles
12 Articles
She ‘wants to die there.’ The women forced to scam and the families left behind
Manila, Philippines (CNN) -- All the names of women have been changed at their request to protect their identity. An hour north of the city, where urban sprawl gives way to hills, a boy in a Batman shirt waits by the front of his family's small convenience store.
She ‘wants to die there.’ The women forced to scam and the families left behind
CNN By Teele Rebane, Hanako Montgomery. Video by Dan Hodge, Exxon Ruebe and Ladan Anoushfar, CNN Manila, Philippines (CNN) — All the names of women have been changed at their request to protect their identity. An hour north of the city, where urban sprawl gives way to hills, a boy in a Batman shirt waits by the front of his family’s small convenience store. Eagerly, he accompanies us past the candy, snacks and lottery tickets, to the simple livi…
She ‘wants to die there.’ The women forced to scam and the families left behind
By Teele Rebane, Hanako Montgomery. Video by Dan Hodge, Exxon Ruebe and Ladan Anoushfar, CNN Manila, Philippines (CNN) — All the names of women have been changed at their request to protect their identity. An hour north of the city, where urban sprawl gives way to hills, a boy in a Batman shirt waits by the front of his family’s small convenience store. Eagerly, he accompanies us past the candy, snacks and lottery tickets, to the simple living s…
She ‘wants to die there.’ The women forced to scam and the families left behind
By Teele Rebane, Hanako Montgomery. Video by Dan Hodge, Exxon Ruebe and Ladan Anoushfar, CNN Manila, Philippines (CNN) — All the names of women have been changed at their request to protect their identity. An hour north of the city, where urban sprawl gives way to hills, a boy in a Batman shirt waits by the front of his family’s small convenience store. Eagerly, he accompanies us past the candy, snacks and lottery tickets, to the simple living s…
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