How South-east Asia became home to the world’s scam farms

Scam farms have multiplied in recent years, particularly in South-east Asia. Read more at straitstimes.com.

BANGKOK - Online scammers steal billions of dollars each year, targeting anyone they can reach on a mobile phone or computer. 

Governments have watched with alarm as large-scale operations, known as scam farms – physical hubs where fraud operations are run using trafficked workers – have multiplied in recent years, particularly in South-east Asia.

The industry was turbocharged by the Covid-19 pandemic and Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, helping turn the region into a global epicentre of online fraud.

The schemes are becoming more sophisticated as gangs harness artificial intelligence (AI) tools and increasingly overlap with other forms of transnational crime.

Governments have launched crackdowns, but the raids may not do more than temporarily disrupt a multibillion-dollar industry seen as too entrenched and lucrative to eliminate.

Scam farms are organised criminal enterprises that operate like call centres. Inside, rows of desks are equipped with computers, mobile phones and lights, allowing staff to run scams around the clock.