Criminal networks often recruit individuals under the pretense of legitimate overseas work, such as online customer service, marketing etc., promising high pay, travel and accommodation. Once recruits arrive at locations abroad, often in Southeast Asia, they find themselves instead working in
scam centres ("fraud factories") where they are forced to commit
online fraud. According to a report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), these operations involve "trafficking for forced criminality". Inside these compounds, workers are often restricted of basic freedom: their passports or phones are confiscated, they work long hours and their living conditions resemble forced labour. These scam centres are held in Southeast Asian countries, particularly border zones or special economic zones in places like Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and others. For example, a 2025 report by the
U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) stated that Chinese‑linked criminal networks operate large scale scam centres across Southeast Asia, stealing "tens of billions of dollars annually". The rise of these operations has been attributed to a convergence of digital opportunity (online fraud, romance scams, investment scams), weak governance in some border regions, the desire of migrants for higher‑paying work, and criminal groups adapting old trafficking models to new cyber‑fraud models. A 2025 article describes how these "fraud factories" grew out of former gambling and casino‑centred operations when travel restrictions during the
COVID-19 pandemic forced criminal groups to shift to online fraud. The complexity is increased because the "victims" of recruitment may become perpetrators themselves under duress, complicating law‑enforcement and victim‑identification frameworks. As ODI says that such operations "challenge the existing counter‑trafficking response … the profile of recruits as more highly educated and skilled workers." == Chinese government response ==