Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A growing number of organized criminal gangs are using the Internet to entrap victims, including those who are vulnerable like migrants and refugees, into illegal acts with threats and violence, the United Nations said in a report released Tuesday.
The report said desperate and entrapped victims in Southeast Asia are forced by criminals to engage in numerous crimes, from romance-investment scams, to cryptocurrency fraud and gambling. The victims face threats to their safety and are often subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and forced labor.
"People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement. "They are victims. They are not criminals.
"In continuing to call for justice for those who have been defrauded through online criminality, we must not forget that this complex phenomenon has two sets of victims."
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The report said that because of the clandestine nature and gaps in the official response, it is hard to know how many have fallen victim to the scandals. But officials said at least 120,000 people in Myanmar may be held in such situations and another 100,000 in Cambodia.
"Scamming is a profitable industry worldwide. According to one report, revenue in 2021 from scamming globally amounted to $7.8 billion worth of stolen cryptocurrency," the report said. "In Southeast Asia reports suggest that scam centers generate revenue amounting to billions of dollars."
The report said the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of many entertainment venues force many to go underground to survive in Southeast Asia.
"Public health measures closed casinos in many countries and in response, casino operators moved operations to less regulated spaces, including conflict-affected border areas and special economic zones, as well as to the increasingly lucrative online space," the report said.
