www.darkreading.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
2606:4700::6810:e0ab
Public Scan
URL:
https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/forced-labor-camps-fuel-billions-of-dollars-in-cyber-scams
Submission: On June 13 via api from TR — Scanned from DE
Submission: On June 13 via api from TR — Scanned from DE
Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOMText Content
Dark Reading is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC Informa PLC|ABOUT US|INVESTOR RELATIONS|TALENT This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales and Scotlan. Number 8860726. Black Hat NewsOmdia Cybersecurity Newsletter Sign-Up Newsletter Sign-Up Cybersecurity Topics RELATED TOPICS * Application Security * Cybersecurity Careers * Cloud Security * Cyber Risk * Cyberattacks & Data Breaches * Cybersecurity Analytics * Cybersecurity Operations * Data Privacy * Endpoint Security * ICS/OT Security * Identity & Access Mgmt Security * Insider Threats * IoT * Mobile Security * Perimeter * Physical Security * Remote Workforce * Threat Intelligence * Vulnerabilities & Threats World RELATED TOPICS * DR Global * Middle East & Africa See All The Edge DR Technology Events RELATED TOPICS * Upcoming Events * Podcasts * Webinars SEE ALL Resources RELATED TOPICS * Library * Newsletters * Podcasts * Reports * Videos * Webinars * Whitepapers * * * * * Partner Perspectives: * > Microsoft SEE ALL * Cyber Risk * Cyberattacks & Data Breaches * Cybersecurity Operations * Threat Intelligence Breaking cybersecurity news, news analysis, commentary, and other content from around the world, with an initial focus on the Middle East & Africa. FORCED-LABOR CAMPS FUEL BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CYBER SCAMS Greater collaboration between financial and law enforcement officials is needed to dismantle cybercrime scam centers in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, which rake in tens of billions of dollars annually — and affect victims worldwide. Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer June 12, 2024 6 Min Read Source: Arturs Budkevics via Alamy Stock Photo Slammed by borders closures in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as by increased scrutiny by authorities, Chinese crime syndicates posing as investors shifted their operations from illicit gambling houses to online cybercrime fraud. The strategy has proven to be phenomenally successful. Four years later, the syndicates continue to take advantage of chaos and corruption in a number of Southeast Asian countries to steal billions of dollars from vulnerable victims worldwide through romance scams and other long-con cyber fraud, aka "pig butchering." Operating from cyber-scam centers in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, the cybercriminals have a second set of victims as well: job seekers from China, India, the Philippines, and other countries in the region, lured with the promise of good-paying jobs at reputable firms, but instead, trapped in camps, forced to conduct the scams. The cybercriminal operations have likely siphoned off more than $64 billion over the past three years, as governments have struggled to first recognize the problem and then find ways to fight the growth of the operations, Jason Tower, Burma country director at the US Institute of Peace, said in a recently published interview. "You have these large — they look almost like penal colonies — but you have large numbers, hundreds of thousands of people, that are held inside of these compounds that are basically perpetrating quite sophisticated online scamming called pig butchering," he said. "This is a very new form of crime that the US is only becoming more aware of as a threat to US and regional security." Nations affected by these cybercrime scams are only starting to get a handle on the scope of the organizations responsible for the attacks. Countries in the region affected by the human trafficking component of these organizations, however, recognized the trend much earlier. In 2022, for example, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam issued warnings to their citizens about the compounds, and a coalition of 35 human-rights organizations called for the Cambodian government to shut down the camps, according to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO). While regional governments have condemned the enslavement of workers, the scam centers are finding protection from a variety of sources — such as militias in coup-ravaged Myanmar or corrupt officials in Cambodia — protection funded by the enormous profits reaped by the criminal organizations behind the scam centers. CRIMINAL POWERHOUSE Estimates of the revenues of the cybercrime syndicates highlight not only how successful the regional groups have been, but how hard they likely will be to eradicate. The US Institute for Peace estimates that in Cambodia alone, the revenue from cyber scamming tops $12.5 billion, or about half the country's gross domestic product (GDP). For the countries of the Mekong delta — which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam — the annual revenue of the scam centers is estimated at nearly $44 billion, or about 40% of the of the combined GDP of Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, the USIP stated in a May report. Consider this: If the cybercrime syndicates were a country, they would be the eighth largest in Southeast Asia, ahead of Cambodia and its nominal GDP of US $35 billion. In a separate analysis, two researchers at the University of Texas at Austin — John Griffin, professor of finance for the university's McCombs School of Business, and Kevin Mei, a doctoral student — tracked the cryptocurrency flows of fraud linked to the criminal organizations in the region and found that more than $75 billion traveled through crypto exchanges over the past three years to end up in wallets linked to fraudsters. Cryptocurrency exchanges are the destination of choice for the scams run by cybercriminal syndicates in Southeast Asia. Source: Griffin and Mei, "How Do Crypto Flows Finance Slavery? The Economics of Pig Butchering" While there was a surge of activity in 2021, the cyber scam centers continue to rake in billions in revenues, Griffin tells Dark Reading. "It is hard to tell if the activity is increasing or decreasing, but there is considerable 2024 activity," he says. "Through various conversations, we believe that the scammers remain very active and continue to find new methods [of transferring money]." POLICE ENLIST HELP FROM BANKS Since 2020, the media has increasingly covered the scam centers in Southeast Asia as a human trafficking epidemic, yet worldwide, the problem of the lucrative cybercrime campaigns that financed the criminal syndicates has only slowly been recognized. In Myanmar, for example, the government — brought to power through a military coup in February 2021 — has failed to stem corruption that has supported the cyber scam centers. In Cambodia, complicit officials and the propensity to cover up the problem have led officials to downplay the issue, while unscrupulous businesses have profited. The port city of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, for example, converted ailing casinos into guarded facilities housing cyber scammers, according to reports. Yet, while the chaotic politics of the region have created significant challenges, signs of regional efforts are starting to bear fruit. Several investigations by China's law enforcement agencies have resulted in the rescue of 45,000 workers, the capture of several major criminal figures, and calls for the arrest of several leaders of the Myanmar military regime, according to an April 2024 USIP report. In another success, the Singapore Police Force has worked with six banks to identify potential scam victims and alert them of the danger. The effort has prevented fraud in more than 3,000 cases, averting the loss of $100 million Singaporean dollars ($74 million) over a two-month operation in March and April 2024. Underscoring the need for governments and financial institutions to cooperate on the problem, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) issued an advisory to members discussing the latest intelligence on the tactics and locations of the criminal groups, says Andy Chow, intelligence officer for the Asia Pacific region for the cybersecurity group. "FS-ISAC continues to compile and share intelligence surrounding these scam compounds to ensure its member firms are up to date on the latest developments," he says, adding, "Financial institutions should lean into relationships with public institutions, such as law enforcement agencies, to identify potential scam victims and promptly alert them about ongoing scams." CLEANING UP CRYPTO Overall, the financial infrastructure has to make it more expensive for cyber scam centers to received stolen funds, and a great deal of that effort needs to be directed at cryptocurrency exchanges. In their research, the University of Texas at Austin's Griffin and Mei discovered that a few large cryptocurrency exchanges accounted for the destinations of most of the money transfers. About $39 billion of the $75 billion landed in Binance accounts, while Huobi accounted for $14 billion and OKX accounted for $6 billion, suggesting that the cybercriminals scams are providing the platforms with both liquidity and profits. Global regulators and law enforcement need to see the big picture and not just focus on the individual crimes, because the crypto companies that appear legitimate are acting as entry points for the illegitimate activities of these organizations, the two researchers argued in their paper. "Our analysis suggests that tighter monitoring on the centralized exchanges could be much more effective," Griffin says. ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S) Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer Veteran technology journalist of more than 20 years. Former research engineer. Written for more than two dozen publications, including CNET News.com, Dark Reading, MIT's Technology Review, Popular Science, and Wired News. Five awards for journalism, including Best Deadline Journalism (Online) in 2003 for coverage of the Blaster worm. Crunches numbers on various trends using Python and R. Recent reports include analyses of the shortage in cybersecurity workers and annual vulnerability trends. See more from Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox. Subscribe You May Also Like -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cyber Risk XZ Utils Backdoor Implanted in Multiyear Supply Chain Attack Cyber Risk Australian Government Doubles Down On Cybersecurity After Attacks Cyber Risk With Attacks on the Upswing, Cyber Insurance Premiums Poised to Rise Too Cyber Risk Researchers Use AI to Jailbreak ChatGPT, Other LLMs More Insights Webinars * Preventing Attackers From Wandering Through Your Enterprise Infrastructure June 19, 2024 * Empowering Developers, Automating Security: The Future of AppSec June 27, 2024 More Webinars Events * Black Hat USA - Aug 3-8 - The Premier Technical Cybersecurity Conference - Learn More August 3, 2024 * Anatomy of a Data Breach - Dark Reading June 20 Event June 20, 2024 * Black Hat Europe - December 9-12 - Learn More December 10, 2024 * SecTor - Canada's IT Security Conference Oct 22-24 - Learn More October 22, 2024 More Events EDITOR'S CHOICE software update concept photo Vulnerabilities & Threats Critical MSMQ RCE Bug Opens Microsoft Servers to Complete TakeoverCritical MSMQ RCE Bug Opens Microsoft Servers to Complete Takeover byJai Vijayan, Contributing Writer Jun 11, 2024 5 Min Read The letters CEO in Scrabble tiles Cybersecurity Operations The CEO Is NextThe CEO Is Next byJoe Sullivan Jun 11, 2024 5 Min Read A dial labeled "RISK" with a hand turning it Cyber Risk A Look at the Riskiest Connected Devices of 2024A Look at the Riskiest Connected Devices of 2024 byTara Seals, Managing Editor, News, Dark Reading Jun 10, 2024 6 Min Read Reports * Elastic named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Security Analytics Platforms, Q4 2022 * 2023 Global Threat Report * EMA: AI at your fingertips: How Elastic AI Assistant simplifies cybersecurity * Industrial Networks in the Age of Digitalization * Zero-Trust Adoption Driven by Data Protection More Reports White Papers * Generative AI Gifts * SecOps Checklist * Elastic named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Security Analytics Platforms, Q4 2022 * The Future of Cloud Security: Attack Paths & Graph-based Technology * How Enterprises Secure Their Applications More Whitepapers Events * Black Hat USA - Aug 3-8 - The Premier Technical Cybersecurity Conference - Learn More August 3, 2024 * Anatomy of a Data Breach - Dark Reading June 20 Event June 20, 2024 * Black Hat Europe - December 9-12 - Learn More December 10, 2024 * SecTor - Canada's IT Security Conference Oct 22-24 - Learn More October 22, 2024 More Events DISCOVER MORE WITH INFORMA TECH Black HatOmdia WORKING WITH US About UsAdvertiseReprints JOIN US Newsletter Sign-Up FOLLOW US Copyright © 2024 Informa PLC Informa UK Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1072954 whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG. Home|Cookie Policy|Privacy|Terms of Use Cookies Button WE CARE ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY We and our 841 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.Privacy Policy WE AND OUR PARTNERS PROCESS DATA TO PROVIDE: Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development. List of Partners (vendors) I Accept Essential Only Show Purposes ABOUT YOUR PRIVACY We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent and legitimate interest. You may exercise your right to consent or object to a legitimate interest, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. More information Allow All MANAGE CONSENT PREFERENCES PERFORMANCE COOKIES Performance Cookies These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Cookies Details FUNCTIONAL COOKIES Functional Cookies These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly. Cookies Details STRICTLY NECESSARY COOKIES Always Active These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information. Cookies Details TARGETING COOKIES Targeting Cookies These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising. Cookies Details STORE AND/OR ACCESS INFORMATION ON A DEVICE 675 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Store and/or access information on a device Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here. List of IAB Vendors | View Illustrations PERSONALISED ADVERTISING AND CONTENT, ADVERTISING AND CONTENT MEASUREMENT, AUDIENCE RESEARCH AND SERVICES DEVELOPMENT 801 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development * USE LIMITED DATA TO SELECT ADVERTISING 611 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you). View Illustrations Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection * CREATE PROFILES FOR PERSONALISED ADVERTISING 497 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities. View Illustrations * USE PROFILES TO SELECT PERSONALISED ADVERTISING 492 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. View Illustrations * CREATE PROFILES TO PERSONALISE CONTENT 219 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests. View Illustrations * USE PROFILES TO SELECT PERSONALISED CONTENT 192 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests. View Illustrations * MEASURE ADVERTISING PERFORMANCE 713 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns. View Illustrations Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection * MEASURE CONTENT PERFORMANCE 359 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you. View Illustrations Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection * UNDERSTAND AUDIENCES THROUGH STATISTICS OR COMBINATIONS OF DATA FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES 453 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents). View Illustrations Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection * DEVELOP AND IMPROVE SERVICES 535 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers. View Illustrations Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection * USE LIMITED DATA TO SELECT CONTENT 122 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS PURPOSE Switch Label Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you). View Illustrations Object to Legitimate Interests Remove Objection List of IAB Vendors USE PRECISE GEOLOCATION DATA 256 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS SPECIAL FEATURE Use precise geolocation data With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice. List of IAB Vendors ACTIVELY SCAN DEVICE CHARACTERISTICS FOR IDENTIFICATION 125 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS SPECIAL FEATURE Actively scan device characteristics for identification With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice. List of IAB Vendors ENSURE SECURITY, PREVENT AND DETECT FRAUD, AND FIX ERRORS 507 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS SPECIAL PURPOSE Always Active Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them. List of IAB Vendors | View Illustrations DELIVER AND PRESENT ADVERTISING AND CONTENT 500 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS SPECIAL PURPOSE Always Active Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device. List of IAB Vendors | View Illustrations MATCH AND COMBINE DATA FROM OTHER DATA SOURCES 357 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS FEATURE Always Active Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice. List of IAB Vendors LINK DIFFERENT DEVICES 328 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS FEATURE Always Active In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices). List of IAB Vendors IDENTIFY DEVICES BASED ON INFORMATION TRANSMITTED AUTOMATICALLY 485 PARTNERS CAN USE THIS FEATURE Always Active Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice. List of IAB Vendors Back Button COOKIE LIST Search Icon Filter Icon Clear checkbox label label Apply Cancel Consent Leg.Interest checkbox label label checkbox label label checkbox label label Confirm My Choices