Wait - Am I reading this right?
I can follow social media accounts and make over 260 dollars
in a day?!
Well, it’s a scam of course.
But scams like this are a huge global business.
And many scammers are even victims themselves.
Our topic on SHIFT.
This is Aaron.
He was taken to Myanmar under false pretenses and forced to scam people
online or via the phone.
We'll show you Aaron’s story in a moment.
But what exactly is scamming?
Essentially, I think scamming in its general form is is really way
of deception, right?
Phone scamming or online scamming is a modern way of social
engineering attacks where basically you're exploiting individuals
emotions or potential weaknesses in trying to lure them and making some
profit or gain.
Scammers prey on our trust and often offer money.
One of the first internet scams were poorly written emails from
the so-called Nigeria Connection.
For example: I receive money in my account, which I then transfer
in exchange for a reward.
Of course, there isn't any - and I have effectively
laundered dirty money.
But in today’s world, AI scams are on the rise.
Using AI software like ChatGPT, scammers can now translate scam
emails into any language with increasing accuracy.
Mistake-free and tailored to each target group.
One popular scam is the so-called Shock call.
A scammer posing as a police officer demands bail for a family
member allegedly involved in a crime or accident.
But the scam took a more sinister turn recently, thanks to AI.
There have been cases in the US where mothers received calls from
their daughters alleged kidnappers.
A mother would hear her daughter's voice in the
background saying, Mom!
Mom!
They’re hurting me!.
And of course, the voice was AI-generated.
Someone will have recorded the daughter's voice somewhere and
used AI to sound like her.
Just a snippet of a real conversation, or a voice memo, is
enough for the AI.
Deepfakes, too, that’s AI generated videos, are becoming increasingly
attractive for scammers.
Microsoft's unreleased AI model VASA-1, for example, can generate
animations from a single photo - from, say, an Instagram account.
Any language can be lip-synced.
Professionals armed with forensic tools may still be able to
identify the fakes.
But amateurs, on the other hand, might have difficulties spotting
them, especially at first glance.
The most important thing for scammers is not the technology, but
gaining the trust of their victims.
We’re very trusting when someone gives us just a few
pieces of information.
Like the name of someone we know.
But that information is easily accessible on social media: Who I
am friends with, who am I in contact with.
Anyone could go and use their names, we are often not so
aware of that.
Many scammers work from West Africa, Southeast Asia or Eastern
Europe, and often target the richer Global North.
Vulnerable people are targeted first: like children and seniors...
But also people who are lonely, tricked by so-called romance
scammers - are taken advantage of financially.
Scamming has long been part of organized crime worldwide.
In Southeast Asia, there are entire office complexes where hundreds of
scammers work side by side.
But in many cases, the people in these so-called “scam factories”
are actually victims themselves: having been brought there under
false pretenses and forced to defraud others.
A UN report shows the scale of this modern form of slavery:
Scamming has long been part of organized crime worldwide.
In Southeast Asia, there are entire office complexes where hundreds of
scammers work side by side.
But in many cases, the people in these so-called “scam factories”
are actually victims themselves: having been brought there under
false pretenses and forced to defraud others.
A UN report shows the scale of this modern form of slavery: Aaron,
too, was forced into scamming others against his will for months.
He spoke to DW about his experiences.
His nightmare began on a trip to a job interview in Bangkok,
Thailand.
We were supposed to go to a hotel that is like- maybe 10 minutes away
from the airport.
But we drove in a different direction.
10 minutes turned into several hours.
That’s when we realized, we are not going to Bangkok.
I was so scared.
It’s hours before Aaron and the other victims
reach their destination.
They cross the river Moei, and end up at the notorious scam factory
known as KK Park.
It is here where thousands of people were taken to, forced to
defraud others in China, Europe or the USA.
One of the people behind the KK Park scam factory is Broken Tooth.
He is believed to be the head of a Chinese triad.
According to former forced laborers, the factory is secured by
a border guard unit from northern Myanmar, which in turn consists
of former rebels.
The victims are not only from the region, but, like Aaron, also
from Africa, for example.
KK Park is professionalized even to the extent that the forced workers
must study manuals – with precise instructions on how to build trust
and exploit weaknesses.
They must meet certain targets – how many people they contact and
what they earn is tightly monitored.
Security was checking our computers.
Seeing if we are doing our job, or playing.
Punishments in the factory are draconian: You are denied food if
you don't have new customers by noon.
And if you don't answer on time, you're beaten, or forced to
stand for hours.
17 hour workings days, no vacation, no break.
This is what several of the victims told DW reporters.
Those who want to leave are threatened with death or being sold
to another factory.
One of the methods KK Park and other scam factories force
their workers to employ, is using cryptoscams; convincing people
to invest in non-existent crypto currencies.
Laura’s story starts while trying to form new connections online.
After a while, this guy, he says: ‘We have this
type of cryptocurrency’.
I wanted to learn how cryptocurrency works so- and
this person was so kind.
He said: ‘I am going to teach you.’ Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin
are popular as an investment.
The risk is high.
And so are the potential profits.
But cryptocurrencies are poorly regulated.
Transactions difficult to trace.
Which also makes them highly attractive for organized crime.
So I trusted this person, you know, I let him teach me.
You invest in the website, you can see your funds there.
You can take out the money.
The scammers maintain contact with the victims for months, persuading
them to invest more and more money.
Laura thought the website was legitimate.
She was convinced she was investing her savings well.
Instead, her money flowed into a crypto wallet, a kind
of digital account.
And was in the hands of the fraudsters.
I wanted to withdraw a couple thousand dollars and I couldn't
withdraw them and this person was pushing me to invest more money
into this cryptocurrency.
Then the website went offline.
The scammer no longer replied and the money was gone.
This form of online fraud is known as pig-butchering.
The fraudster fattens the victim up before taking them
to the slaughterhouse.
And you're left wondering why is this person doing this to me?
Laura was looking for likeminded people online, but this search
ended up costing her a lot of money.
Scams like that can often involve five-figure sums.
And be very traumatizing and embarrassing for the affected.
Victims often don't tell anyone - they are ashamed.
In the worst cases, people even take their own lives because they
feel so much shame.
Sometimes rendered hopeless having lost so much money.
It’s an incredibly lucrative business for criminals.
In the US, for example, scammers stole a monumental ten billion
dollars from private individuals in 2023.
And that’s not even including scams against companies.
So how can you protect yourself?
Scammers often use false identities, posing as bank or
postal service employees.
If you suspect a scam, it is best to start by checking the spelling
of email addresses or websites.
Since the real address is already taken, scammers use slight
variations to mimic the original.
It could be just a hyphen where there was none, or a letter from
a different alphabet.
Love and romance scammers often create fake profiles; here,
a reverse image search can help, for instance with Google Lens or
the InVid program.
However, this method falls short for deepfakes or fake callers: To
counteract these, all you can do is make up a code word, or a question
and answer game.
‘Are you really well?’ and the answer to that is ‘yes, I ate
my oatmeal this morning’ - for example.
An innocuous question, with a very specific answer.
Scammers often use professional methods to
manipulate their victims.
They rely on flattery, sympathy or time pressure – all to make money.
If you have even the slightest suspicion, then you should end
the conversation or chat as quickly as possible.
You should not reply to the e-mail, but ask someone else and not get
involved in a conversation.
That is the best countermeasure we have.
What about the people who are forced to work in scam factories?
Foreign investigators feel powerless: Myanmar's legal system
is often corrupt.
Aaron and a few others were lucky.
Aid workers on the Thai side of the border managed to free them
while they were being transported to another scam factory via
Thailand.
But transfers like this rarely happen.
And not every rescue goes to plan.
Scammers are often one step ahead of investigators, also because
authorities struggle to cooperate across national borders.
And the dangers are growing and on the rise - as AI offers scammers
new avenues for exploitation.
So we must continue to keep a close eye on them.
Thanks for watching - Until next time and stay vigilant!