Skip to player
Skip to main content
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Bookmark
Share
More
Add to Playlist
Report
Taiwan Victim of Southeast Asian Scam Center Released
TaiwanPlus News
Follow
9 months ago
Though Taiwan has helped over 1,500 citizens get out of scam centers run by Southeast Asia-based criminals in the past three years, new tactics are making the problem of scam farms tough to tackle.
Category
đ
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
The bruises and cuts on Hsieh Yu-pung's arms are still visible.
00:04
He's safe now with Taiwanese immigration officers on either side.
00:09
But things could well have turned out differently
00:11
if the right people hadn't intervened on his behalf.
00:14
Hsieh is one of what the UN estimates are hundreds of thousands
00:18
of victims of Southeast Asia-based human traffickers.
00:22
These criminal groups post fake ads promising high-paying jobs
00:26
in countries like Thailand.
00:28
Those who respond are kidnapped on arrival
00:31
and trafficked to large detention centres,
00:33
many forced to work scamming others back home.
00:36
Conditions are said to be brutal.
00:52
Hsieh had been offered a job as a dance instructor in Thailand.
00:56
But instead, he was taken across the border to Myanmar
00:59
where he disappeared for three weeks.
01:02
He and his father both say it was only the involvement
01:05
of NGO negotiators that secured his release.
01:08
In such cases, ransoms aren't unheard of too.
01:13
Scams like the one that trapped Hsieh have sprung up
01:15
in a range of Southeast Asian countries in recent years,
01:18
sometimes as an attempt by criminals to recoup their losses
01:21
on failed gambling ventures in the region.
01:24
Many of the criminals and their victims are Chinese.
01:28
High-profile cases include Chinese actor Wang Xing
01:31
who's released a video of himself
01:33
in a Chinese-language video.
01:35
The video shows a Chinese-language video
01:37
of a Chinese-language Chinese actor
01:39
Other cases include Chinese actor Wang Xing
01:42
whose release from captivity last week
01:44
made international headlines.
01:46
But Taiwanese victims also make up a significant portion
01:49
of those lured away with the promise of good jobs or easy money.
01:53
The Foreign Ministry says it's helped rescue
01:55
over 1,500 Taiwanese people from scam centers
01:58
in the past three years alone.
02:01
And anti-scam NGOs say the actual number of victims
02:04
who've made it back to Taiwan may be even higher.
02:09
We think there has been a gap.
02:11
This is mainly because some of the victims
02:14
may be ashamed to call the police
02:17
or say they don't trust the rescue effort.
02:23
NGOs say it can be hard to get support
02:26
from the governments of the countries involved,
02:28
especially one of the more favored countries these days,
02:31
Myanmar, which is in the midst of a civil war.
02:34
The Thai government will say,
02:37
The Burmese government will say,
02:42
Despite occasional crackdowns,
02:44
the situation is murky and evolving.
02:47
Some analysts see scammers broadening the range of victims
02:50
and embracing new tools like deepfakes to con victims.
02:54
Police at Taiwan's airports hold signs
02:56
warning jobseekers headed to Southeast Asia to beware.
02:59
But scammers are well-entrenched in the region,
03:01
with the UN estimating they rake in
03:03
billions of U.S. dollars a year.
03:05
The risk to Taiwanese people isn't going away.
03:08
Chris Ma and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment
Recommended
0:45
|
Up next
Taiwan a Testing Ground for Transnational Fraud Rings: Report
TaiwanPlus News
4 weeks ago
1:50
Taiwan's Scammers Make Off With Nearly US$257M in April
TaiwanPlus News
5 months ago
0:32
Taiwan Putting Meta-Owned Threads Under Anti-Fraud Framework
TaiwanPlus News
3 months ago
0:48
Pro-Unification Leader in Taiwan Prosecuted for Taking CCP Funding
TaiwanPlus News
11 months ago
4:22
Chinese Man Appears To Sail to Taiwan and Back in Rubber Dinghy
TaiwanPlus News
5 months ago
0:50
Two Taiwan Nationals Back From Cambodian Scam Center
TaiwanPlus News
4 months ago
2:42
Deadline Passes for Chinese Spouses in Taiwan To Provide Key Documents
TaiwanPlus News
4 months ago
1:46
Saving Taiwan's Endangered Four-Spot Midget Damselfly - TaiwanPlus News
TaiwanPlus News
3 years ago
0:51
Over 10,000 Chinese Spouses at Risk of Losing Legal Status in Taiwan
TaiwanPlus News
6 months ago
3:23
Taiwan's Efforts and Obstacles in Attracting Foreign Talent - TaiwanPlus News
TaiwanPlus News
3 years ago
5:14
Analysis: Taiwan's Cabinet Urged to Act on TikTok
TaiwanPlus News
7 weeks ago
2:52
Analysis: The Life of Migrant Caregivers in Taiwan
TaiwanPlus News
11 months ago
2:59
Taiwan's 'Immediate Combat Readiness' Drills Tackle Gray-Zone Threats
TaiwanPlus News
7 months ago
3:17
Taiwan Charges Chinese Captain With Severing Undersea Cable
TaiwanPlus News
6 months ago
1:33
Cambodia Deports Unknown Number of Taiwanese Fraud Suspects to China
TaiwanPlus News
6 months ago
3:16
Hong Kong Exiles Commemorate Tiananmen 36th Anniversary in Taiwan
TaiwanPlus News
4 months ago
0:26
Hundreds of Chinese Nationals Repatriated From Myanmar Scam Centers
TaiwanPlus News
7 months ago
0:23
Taiwan Urban Resilience Drills Begin in Central Taiwan
TaiwanPlus News
3 months ago
0:49
Thai-Myanmar Border Scam Centers Could Hold Over 50,000 Trafficking Victims
TaiwanPlus News
7 months ago
0:51
Toronto's Taiwanese Community Calls for WHA Inclusion at Annual Charity Run
TaiwanPlus News
5 months ago
0:45
Taiwan Bans Raising Macaques - TaiwanPlus News
TaiwanPlus News
3 years ago
0:38
Dozens of Taiwanese Nationals Arrested in Cambodia Fraud Bust
TaiwanPlus News
3 months ago
0:53
Taiwan Mask Mandate to Stay Until End of Year - TaiwanPlus News
TaiwanPlus News
3 years ago
1:29
KMT Says Migrant Workers Gone Missing a Growing Problem in Taiwan
TaiwanPlus News
9 months ago
7:04
āĻŽā§āĻĨāĻžāĻŦāĻžāĻĄāĻŧāĻŋ āϞāĻŖā§āĻĄāĻāĻŖā§āĻĄ āĻāϰāĻžāϰ āĻšā§āĻŽāĻāĻŋ āϏāĻžāĻŦāĻŋāύāĻž āĻāϝāĻŧāĻžāϏāĻŽāĻŋāύā§āϰ, āĻĒāĻžāϞā§āĻāĻž āĻĻāĻŋā§ā§ āĻāϰāĻŽ āĻāĻā§āϰāĻŽāĻŖ Sreerupa Mitra Chowdhury
Asianet News Bangla
9 hours ago
Be the first to comment