Leaked Chats Expose the Daily Life of a Scam Compound's Enslaved Workforce
131 points
5 hours ago
| 11 comments
| wired.com
| HN
Epskampie
2 hours ago
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Horrifying read. I recently read a book about a girl who was pressed into prostitution, and this reads much the same. [1] Before I was convinced that slavery was mostly a thing of the past, how awful to find out this isn't true.

1: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6515858-slave-girl

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PeterStuer
1 hour ago
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Why would a criminal organization that trafficked you into a place where you have no legal recourse ever stop exploiting you?
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gkanai
2 hours ago
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China executes 11 members of Myanmar scam mafia

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2gdrvy9gjo

China executes four more Myanmar mafia members

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4e9eqz4rxo

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v3ss0n
1 hour ago
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They are Ethnic Chinese who were operating scam centers in collaboration with junta at northern area Laukkai.

There are more at shwe Koko area.

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simianwords
38 minutes ago
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were they Chinese citizens?
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alwa
4 hours ago
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simianwords
44 minutes ago
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Does Laos not have a functioning justice and enforcement system that the individuals trapped here could not just call them?
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pjc50
18 minutes ago
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The catch-22 is that these people are nearly always immigrants, and the criminals have taken their documentation, so the best case scenario is they get rescued and then deported, possibly via a spell in immigration detention. The worst case scenario is the cops turn up, laugh, collect the day's bribe money and then the person who called the cops gets beaten.

(this is an important dynamic in sex trafficking as well)

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walterbell
2 hours ago
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https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/feds-seize-15-bi...

> [US] Federal prosecutors have seized $15 billion from the alleged kingpin of an operation that used imprisoned laborers to trick unsuspecting people into making investments in phony funds, often after spending months faking romantic relationships with the victims.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-29/china-executes-online...

> China has executed 11 people involved in criminal gangs in Myanmar, including online scam ringleaders. Their crimes included "intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud and casino establishment"

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3184205/why-china-was-so-k...

> Chen's case might prove more complicated since the US had seized a large amount of his cryptocurrency assets, but he was now in custody in China.. "If China doesn't cooperate, it will be extremely difficult for the US to investigate Chen."

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bandris
2 hours ago
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Complementary movie on this topic: "No More Bets" from 2023

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_More_Bets

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Incipient
57 minutes ago
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I'm surprised anyone here expects these things not to be happening. The world outside of our (frankly small) 'western bubble' varies from pretty rough to absolutely horrific.

I'm personally not too sure what anyone does about it. People left unchecked, to some degree, are awful.

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thoi4o8094ijoi
1 hour ago
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I wonder what kind of stories one'd hear from scam-centers in India.
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andrepd
15 minutes ago
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That's why those "scammer gets owned" videos made by douche youtubers, full of people gloating in the comments about how superior they are, never sat right with me. Those people crammed into warehouses are obviously extremely desperate or coerced or both.
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thaumasiotes
2 hours ago
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> The more senior boss, who went by the name Da Hai

Weird. In Wired's own graphic of the org chart, this person appears, but he's labeled "SEA" instead of "DA HAI".

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jtvjan
2 hours ago
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In the chart, it says 大海 (dàhǎi, lit. big sea) above "SEA", which means 'ocean'.
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thaumasiotes
1 hour ago
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Yes, I know, but the intended audience can't read 大海.

The chart and the article are both created by Wired; it's strange for them to refer to him one way in the chart and another way in the article.

I'm curious about the ethnic makeup of the "team leader" level. One of them is called "Ted", and seems to also be called 特德 ["te de"]. The 特德 could just be because everyone in the upper levels is Chinese, but the English-language post from Ted shown in the article doesn't really suggest a native English speaker. (And does suggest an emotional loyalty to China.)

Amani doesn't sound like a Chinese name or like the English name of a Chinese person.

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bandrami
1 hour ago
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"Amani" is an East African name
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hereme888
1 hour ago
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Real slavery. The kind I wish the American Left focused their DEI on.
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andrepd
18 minutes ago
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Why would people from place X be more interested in abuses happening in place X than in a country literally half a planet away that they have no control over? Truly a mystery, probably they are just DEI crazies (whatever that means).
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StefanBatory
15 minutes ago
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From my experience online, it's just that's it's far more acceptable to say "I hate DEI" (never to be defined), instead of "I actually hate black people/minorities".
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spiderfarmer
29 minutes ago
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You could, of course, demand/wish/hope that right-wing politicians did anything about slavery in foreign nations. But somehow “trying to do anything good” is on left-wing politicians, while right-wing politicians, without repercussions, can thwart all anti-slavery efforts made by the US over several decades.

Like ending 69 global initiatives to end child labor, forced labor and trafficking: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/trump-cuts-c...

US politics in a nutshell. In order to feel you’ve contributed to a conversation, you can just yell DEI and be done with it.

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boston_clone
40 minutes ago
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Real slavery, like what's permitted via the Thirteenth Amendment and propagated by over-policing black communities? Pretty sure the "American Left" is keenly aware of this, even if terminally-online armchair policy analysts engaging in whataboutisms aren't.

This is kinda the whole crux of prison and police reform in the US; you may want to read "The New Jim Crow". Decent primer.

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simianwords
38 minutes ago
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comparing this to what happens in USA is why people don't take BLM and DEI seriously
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gmerc
19 minutes ago
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I guess if you're taking the Epstein thing as extra-territorial we could pretend this comment makes any sense.
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boston_clone
33 minutes ago
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Oh, you don't have to out yourself like that; not here in public! Many people care about black lives and DEI. In fact, I'm willing to bet you probably agree with the most palatable form of DEI - jobs programs and hiring incentives for veterans.

In any case, here's a quote FTA:

>Rather than explicit imprisonment, the compound relied on a system of indentured servitude and debt to control its workers.

Not that different from the USA: https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-inve...

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