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Scam centers in Myanmar force Japanese teens into criminal operations [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2025-07-15

Japanese teenagers searching for gaming friends and overseas jobs online found themselves trapped in a criminal underworld along the Myanmar-Thailand border. Back in February, Thai police rescued a Japanese teen from a fraud operation base in Mae Sot, a western Thai border city.

The scam compounds, described by escapees as prison-like facilities ringed with barbed wire and armed guards, are part of a vast criminal enterprise that has ensnared thousands of foreign nationals. As reported in The Yomuri Shimbun, victims include a 17-year-old who was recruited through an online gaming site and a 16-year-old who was shocked with a stun gun when failing to meet fraud quotas. The teens were provided flight tickets to Thailand before being trafficked across the border into Myanmar.

Thai and Japanese authorities have intensified their crackdown since those initial rescues. Following the February arrests of five Japanese men, including a 29-year-old suspected of forcing the 17-year-old high school student to work at a scam base, authorities have continued to uncover more cases. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the criminal networks have expanded their recruiting tactics to include "dark part-time jobs" advertised on social media platforms like Telegram.

"Some people willingly participate in the scams, but many are forced to work against their will," said Ivan Franceschini, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne who studies online scam labor. "It is modern slavery."

Previously:

• Cyberscam trafficking victims trapped in dangerous Myanmar detention centers

• Watch Michael Flynn endorse Trumper's call for a Myanmar-style coup in the US

• Myanmar releases Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from prison after 511 days

• Aung San Suu Kyi deposed by military in Myanmar coup

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