A latest UN investigation reports that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to Southeast Asia to operate online scams.
Apparently, at least 12,000 individuals from Myanmar and another 100,000 Cambodian nationals have been coerced into working on these scams.
While most victims are said to be from Asia, some are from countries in Africa and Latin America. Despite the fact that the issue has long existed, the UN report represents the first thorough examination of its scope.
The investigation suggests that as a result of pandemic-related closures, millions of individuals were forced to stay at home and spend more time online, making them prime targets for those running online fraud schemes.
After luring the less-educated victims into joining the frauds for quick bucks, cybercrime gangs are now targeting victims with a more professional background (often graduates or post-grads).
The report further noted that the places where the victims are primarily targeted and coerced into joining cybercrime come under a jurisdiction where the governance and laws are comparatively weak, with contested authority. “In continuing to call for justice for those who have been defrauded through online criminality, we must not forget that this complex phenomenon has two sets of victims,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
According to an estimation made by the UN, these scam centres are generating a revenue of whopping billions of US dollars
[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.
Read the original article: