According to a report, in 2023 the u.n. estimated that more than 120,000 people had been forced to work in scam centres in Myanmar and elsewhere in south east Asia. Reportedly, they are computer experts mostly from Asia who are lured by the promise of excellent salaries. According to the report, one such man arrived in Bangkok, was immediately sent to another city in western Thailand and handed over to two gunmen who took him to Myanmar. Reportedly, the man ended up in Myawaddy, a town at the centre of fighting between the military and anti coup forces and he was taken to a camp surrounded by walls and barbed wire.
According to the report, around 40 people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were detained in the camp and were forced to work long hours trying to trick wealthy men, mostly from western countries by pretending to be female in so called romance scams, or with promises of investment opportunities. Reportedly, lonely men or those looking for sex sometimes replied and if they did, younger women were forced to send explicit pictures as an enticement.
According to the report, the enforced workers were not allowed to go home unless they or their families paid a ransom.