China cracks down on scam centres operating in neighbouring Myanmar

Chinese authorities have moved to crack down on scam centres operating in neighbouring Myanmar, part of a broader Southeast Asian fraud industry that has drawn growing international concern.

Hundreds of thousands of people are reported to be working in fraud centres across the region, running scams that target victims around the world. US authorities have estimated that fraudsters operating from such centres are responsible for scams worth almost $10 billion a year against American nationals alone, while victims have also been reported in Europe, the UK, and China.

Human rights groups have raised concerns that many of those working inside the centres are themselves victims of human trafficking, saying they are often forced into the work under conditions described as effectively enslaved. The crackdown adds to a wider regional effort to dismantle scam operations that have proliferated in parts of Myanmar largely beyond central government control.