A UNITED Nations human rights report released last week has revealed that trafficked workers in online scam centers in Southeast Asia are trapped in a setting dominated by rape, torture and forced labor.
“The litany of abuse is staggering and at the same time heartbreaking,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
What Türk also finds deeply troubling is “rather than receiving protection, care and rehabilitation, as well as the pathways to justice and redress to which they are entitled, victims too often face disbelief, stigmatization and even further punishment.”
The UN agency interviewed workers who have escaped or were rescued from online scam hubs dotting the region for the report.
“Victims described being lured into scamming jobs under false pretenses and then being coerced into perpetrating online fraud ranging from impersonation scams, online extortion, financial fraud, as well as romantic scams,” the report noted.
The victims said they were held “in immense compounds resembling self-contained towns, some over 500 acres in size, made up of heavily fortified multi-story buildings with barbed wire-topped high walls, guarded by armed and uniformed security personnel.”
Sexual violence in the hubs has increased since 2024, the agency said. “Women described rape, forced prostitution and forced abortions. Male victims reported sexual humiliation and assault. Twelve women released from compounds in Myanmar said they were raped and impregnated, while a pregnant Filipina survivor experienced physical violence and electrocution.”
Online scamming has grown into a lucrative industry that rakes in more than $43.8 billion annually. It employs an estimated 300,000 workers recruited not only from countries in Asia, but as far off as Zimbabwe and South Africa in the African continent.
Efforts to crush online scamming are often compromised because cybercriminal syndicates are “deeply entrenched,” and operate with impunity in collusion with corrupt government officials.
The Philippines can claim credit for dismantling online scam centers disguised as Philippine offshore gaming operators, or POGOs.The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte rolled out the red carpet for POGOs in 2016, seeing their potential as a major revenue generator. The operators were allowed to bring in their own employees, who were mostly Chinese. At one point, the POGO workforce was dominated by 300,000 Chinese.
The POGOs initially lived up to their promise, paying P7.2 billion in taxes in 2020, more than double what they paid in the previous year.
The POGO bubble burst when the Covid pandemic struck. Profits from online gaming shrank, and the operators began to miss out on their tax payments.
POGOs were forced to “expand” into criminal activities ranging from kidnapping and prostitution to money laundering, human trafficking, and crypto-scamming.
In 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a ban on POGOs, saying they “have ventured into illicit areas, furthest from gaming.”
Government raids on POGO sites dovetailed with the description by victims interviewed by the UN of heavily guarded, self-sustained communities where their rights were curtailed.
Other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Burma, Laos and Cambodia, have had little success in fighting online scammers.
The UN report warned that without coordinated action grounded in human rights principles, the convergence of cybercrime, corruption and human trafficking will continue to expand.
Türk stressed that “effective responses need to be centered on human rights law and standards. Crucially, that means explicitly recognizing forced criminality within anti-trafficking laws and regulations and guaranteeing the non-punishment principle for victims of trafficking.”
Last year, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) acknowledged that online scamming and cyber fraud have overtaken sea piracy and international economic crimes as primary threats to regional security.
To respond to this new threat, Asean has adopted a 10-year strategy aimed at bolstering cooperation among member states in fighting transnational crime.
The plan calls for collaboration, information-sharing and targeted responses to criminal threats, with a sharp focus on cyber-related issues.
Cybersecurity will only be effective if cooperation between governments, private sector, and international bodies is seamless. The region must also invest heavily in cybersecurity capacity building, and constantly update legal frameworks to keep up with evolving threats.
The Philippines, this year’s Asean chairman, must see to it that the plan of action is not only reinforced, but sustained.
