Read more
Running the gamut from the infamous 'pig butchering' romance con to sophisticated online extortion and investment fraud, Southeast Asia has emerged as the global hub for cybercrime. Based on years of field research, Scam takes an in-depth look at the history and inner dynamics of the region's online scam industry. Revealed are the appalling working conditions - akin to modern slavery - in the hundreds of prisonlike compounds that have mushroomed throughout multiple countries. The result is a shocking exposé of victims forced to be perpetrators, a tragic modern tale.
About the author
Ivan Franceschini is a lecturer at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne. His current research focuses on ethnic Chinese transnational crime, especially in the field of online fraud. He co-founded the Made in China Journal and The People's Map of Global China/ Global China Pulse. His books include Proletarian China (2022), Global China as Method (2022), and Afterlives of Chinese Communism (2019). He also co-directed the documentaries Dreamwork China (2011) and Boramey (2021).Ling Li is currently pursuing a PhD at Ca' Foscari University of Venice with a focus on the role of technology in enabling modern slavery and human trafficking in East and Southeast Asia. In the past few years, she has been providing support to survivors of scam compounds in Southeast Asia, interacting with local and international civil society organisations to bring them relief and help with repatriation.Mark Bo is a researcher who has been based in East and Southeast Asia for two decades. He has worked globally with local civil society partners to monitor and advocate for improved environmental and social practices in development projects and utilises his background in corporate and financial mapping to investigate stakeholders involved in Asia's online gambling, fraud, and money laundering industries.
Report
In recent years the industrialised perpetration of scams from the Far East has gradually become exposed by the media. Very little is known about the origins and workings of this 'industry'. Scam is the first authoritative and deep investigation by the world's leading scholars on this subject. It is a meticulously researched, fascinating, and detailed account of these Asian crime groups that is both gripping and harrowing. It is essential reading for anyone interested in frauds, scams, and modern slavery. Mark Button, co-author of Cyber Frauds, Scams and Their Victims
