A South Korean court sentenced the head of an online scam group that operated in Laos and Myanmar to eight years in prison for luring South Koreans with a false promise of “making big money” and forcing them to commit fraudulent crimes.
Nearly 60 victims lost more than 23 billion won (US$17 million) between May and October last year after the scam group imprisoned victims in offices set up in special economic zones in Laos and Myanmar to commit fraudulent crimes, the Daegu District Court revealed.
The court also sentenced a senior officer and a recruiter of the group to four years in prison each. Ten other group members, including a “consultant,” were jailed for up to to three years.
Online gambling and scam centers that have proliferated in Southeast Asia in recent years. University of Texas researchers estimated in a March report that scammers had tricked investors out of more than US$75 billion since January 2020.
The South Korean scam group targeted financially struggling individuals by presenting them with falsified data, convincing them that there were promising investment opportunities in Laos and Myanmar, the court added.
“The victims are complaining of extreme economic and mental suffering as a result of the crime and are pleading for severe punishment for the defendants,” the court said, explaining the reason for the sentences.
Lured by offers for jobs such as Korean language interpretation and cryptocurrency sales, South Korean job seekers are forced into illegal activities such as voice phishing, investment scams, romance scams, and sex trafficking, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry.
Employers compound the abuse by confiscating passports for “visa processing,” and then demanding payment for travel and living expenses. Victims can be detained and assaulted.
Given the increase in criminal activities targeting South Koreans, the ministry in January imposed a travel ban, known as a level 4 alert, for the Lao Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone from Feb. 1. As of Monday, the ban was in place.
South Koreans must obtain a special government permit if they wish to stay in areas under a level 4 alert, the highest of a government travel warning system. Those who remain in a country without permission face criminal penalties under the passport law.
In November last year, South Korea announced that 19 citizens had been rescued by Myanmar police after being held by an illegal business in a town in eastern Myanmar on the Thai border.
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Southeast Asia’s scam centers are increasingly raising concern around the world and governments in the region are being pressed to take action against them.
Authorities in Laos recently gave illegal call centers operating in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone until the end of the month to clear out or face police action.
Following an Aug. 9 meeting between the governor of Bokeo province, high-ranking officials from the Lao Ministry of Public Security, and Zhao Wei, the chairman of the Golden Triangle SEZ, Lao authorities ordered all scam centers to be “completely shut down by Aug. 25,” according to state media reports and an official from the public security ministry.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA Lao on Monday that the centers were given the opportunity to “remove all of their belongings by the deadline.”
“After that, we’ll set up a special force to enforce the order,” he said.
Edited by RFA Staff.