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You’ve heard about people losing their money to online scams — romance, crypto, tech support, real estate and countless other types. But have you ever wondered who is doing the scamming? A large number of scammers are using innocent people to con and steal money against their wills.
Meet Xu Bochun, a 38-year-old aspiring actor from Shanghai. He thought he was signing up for a job as a movie extra in southwest China. Instead, he was kidnapped, trafficked through the jungle, and forced into a brutal life of cybercrime and romance scams.
He’s not the only one. If you’ve ever wondered how scammers can live with themselves, the truth is that many of them are doing it against their will.
Three months of hell
In June of last year, Xu responded to an ad offering $1,380 to work as an extra in a tourist town near the Myanmar border. When he showed up, he and other job seekers were ambushed by armed men and marched at knifepoint through the Myanmar jungle.
Xu was shackled with 80 other Chinese men and sold to a scam operation run out of the Red Lotus Hotel, overseen by the patriarch of a notorious crime family in the region.
He and the other prisoners were forced to use multiple phones and social media accounts to dupe people into investing in fake crypto platforms.
When Xu didn’t meet his targets, he was beaten. When others tried to escape or contact their families, they were shot dead.
After three months, Xu managed to send a message to a childhood friend during a supervised session. His family gathered evidence and his mother sold her house to raise the $85,000 ransom for his release.
A vicious cycle
I’ve already written about the deadly cartel scam compounds in Mexico. The United Nations estimates over 200,000 people are being enslaved and forced to work as scammers in Southeast Asia.
Many victims are lured by fraudulent job postings and kidnapped from Thailand, Taiwan and China. Sadly, these kinds of scam compounds are growing, and that means there are more and more desperate people trying to con you by any means necessary.
My advice to protect yourself
It’s the same advice I’d give to Xu: Remember, scammers prey on your desperation.
Xu needed a job. You might be looking for a foolproof investment or feeling lonely after a death or divorce. Stop. Slow down. Do your research. I’ve got more tips here.
When fewer people fall for these scams, the less lucrative they’ll be for criminals, and fewer people like Xu will be forced into a life of crime and violence.
Tags: family, scams
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