Fraud used to be a local issue. Now the Hydra crosses continents

Abstract

Until recently, fraud was a crime constrained by personal interactions. No more. Instead of a localised financial offence, fraud has evolved into a sprawling social threat that, thanks to the internet, allows offenders to prey on victims across continents.

International case studies such as the scam factories in Myanmar’s Shwe Kokko and Lay Kay Kaw illustrate this grim reality. Human trafficking, coercion, and digital fraud converge in what are effectively criminal production lines. Such is the scale that China had to intervene in Myanmar, because its citizens were enslaved into becoming digital fraudsters.