A new report on cybercrime hubs in Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia has highlighted the trafficking and exploitation of Indian nationals in organised scam operations. Victims were reportedly held as slaves, trained to run investment, romance, impersonation, social media and gaming scams, and subjected to severe abuse.
The report by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) found that many of these cybercrime hubs are controlled by Chinese nationals. Victims faced electric shocks, confinement in dark and isolation rooms, physical abuse, fines and mental torture. The hubs are mainly located in the Golden Triangle along the borders of Thailand, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia, as well as Myanmar’s northern border with China and the Philippines. Some operate from special economic zones.
The study, led by Indonesia and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, involved 24 experts from 11 countries, including India. It examined the link between human trafficking and cyber-enabled financial crime, using debriefings of 15 Indian nationals repatriated from Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia between 2023 and 2024.
The victims were reportedly promised high-paying customer service or IT jobs, transported through Thailand and then forced into criminal “scam compounds”. “Victims were mostly young men (20-35 age group) from nine Indian states, recruited via social media or personal networks, who paid upfront fees (Rs 50-70,000). Compounds were run by Chinese-speaking syndicates, with multi-national workforces and strict control (passport confiscation, physical/psychological abuse),” the report has said.
Workers were also sold between compounds and subjected to confinement, violence and debt bondage. “Interception operations and large-scale rescues have revealed victims from a variety of nationalities and regions, suggesting that recruitment practices have expanded beyond solely regional contexts. Workers are forced to conduct investment fraud, impersonation schemes, romance scams, and illegal online gambling platforms, with performance enforced through physical abuse and threats,” it added.
The report also highlighted the use of crypto-based financial systems, mule accounts and Indian SIM cards. In one case, accounts and SIM cards from Punjab were supplied to fraudsters in the Philippines, enabling scams worth over Rs 40 crore. Unemployed youth were lured with fake jobs, asked to open accounts and provide SIMs, which were then couriered to the Philippines.
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