反诈中心提醒您：谨防电信网络诈骗，保护个人信息，不点击不扫描陌生链接和二维码。The gangs that kidnap Asians and force them to commit cyberfraudSyndicates in Cambodia and Myanmar have coerced thousands into THINGS WERE looking up for Bilce Tan. The
41-year-old Malaysian had lost his job at the height of the pandemic and had
spent months looking for work. Then in May, a fantastic opportunity came his
way. After multiple interviews, a Malaysian company offered him a job as a
business-development lead at their office in Sihanoukville, a resort town in
Cambodia. The company would pay him 12,000 ringgit ($2,588) a month—far more
than he could make in Malaysia. The benefits included free room and board at an
apartment block that boasted a gym. Mr Tan accepted.对于41岁因疫情失业好久的马来西亚人Bilce Tan来说，他在经过几次面试后，终于找到了一个“商业发展负责人”的职位。而且这个公司位于柬埔寨的一个旅游胜地。公司开给他的工资是每月2588美元，这可比他在马来西亚挣得多很多。而且公司还提供免费宿舍和健身房。It was not long after he arrived in
Sihanoukville that Mr Tan began to feel uneasy. At the resort where his
employers had their office, armed guards patrolled the boundaries. The walls
were topped with barbed wire. During training, his instructors taught him how
to defraud people online. When he protested, his bosses shrugged. There was no
way out of the compound, they told him. He was trapped.而当Tan到了公司驻地后，他渐渐发现了一些不对劲的地方：公司周围是高墙，还有持枪的保安。
更奇怪的是，老板在培训他的时候，教的内容是如何进行网络诈骗。他抗议过，但老板对此嗤之以鼻。Mr Tan’s story is a common one. Over the
past few years, tens of thousands of Asians have been lured to casinos and
resorts in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, only to find that their “employers” are
in fact criminals who force their “new hires” to work in illegal
online-gambling or scamming outfits.这不是个例，在过去的几年里，成千上万的亚洲人被诱惑到了柬埔寨，老挝和缅甸。到了之后，这些人才发现，他们的工作就是“电信诈骗”。The cons are sophisticated. Mr Tan was
furnished with fake social-media accounts, ten mobile phones, a list of targets
and information about their assets, relationships and education, as well as
scripts tailored to different types of prey. His handlers taught him how to win
over vulnerable people like pensioners and single parents by chatting with them
every day.想要进行诈骗，就得“装得像”。Tan 有一个假的社交账号，还有10部移动电话，以及一个诈骗对象清单及这些对象的资产、人际关系和教育等等。老板则会教Tan如何通过每天聊天取得老年人或单亲父母的信任。His trainers also supplied him with
photos and videos to support the back stories of his many personas. Once the
mark’s trust had been gained, the real scam began. Rather than asking for money
directly, as in a traditional sting, he urged the victim to deposit
cryptocurrencies in an investment platform manipulated by the criminals. The
sums involved grew bigger and bigger. Often the mark would, at first, be able
to make small withdrawals. Satisfied that the platform was legitimate, the
target would deposit ever more. Then, one day, the invented persona would
disappear, leaving behind a baffled and broke victim. (Mr Tan claims he never
managed to con anyone.)假的社交账号上是假的人设。一旦诈骗对象上钩，欺骗就开始了。欺骗的手段可不那么直白，这就是所谓的“杀猪盘”行为。骗子会催促受害者赶紧把加密货币存到一个投资平台上，而这个投资平台是由犯罪团伙控制的。
想要钓大鱼，就得先给人一些“甜头”。一开始，受害者能看到这个投资平台确实挣了一些钱，于是在利益的引诱下，就会投入更多。
然后，等骗子目标数字达成，就会“玩消失”，留下奔溃的受害者。The 1,200 victims of similar scams known
to the Global Anti-Scam Organisation, a support group, have collectively lost
$250m. Twice that amount was lost by those who contacted CipherBlade, an
investigation firm, last year. Total losses for 2021 may have been in the tens
of billions, since the “vast majority” of victims do not report the crime,
reckons CipherBlade. Precise estimates are impossible, but the International
Justice Mission, an NGO, guesses that syndicates in Cambodia take in some $12bn
a year from online fraud.由1200个受骗者组成的全球反诈组织，总计已经损失了2.5亿美元。据国际正义使命组织猜测，柬埔寨的诈骗团伙一年能通过网络诈骗“骗到”120亿美元。The syndicates procured their workforce
by entrapping people like Mr Tan. Though some work willingly, many are held
against their will. According to the Cambodian government, the syndicates
employ between 80,000 and 100,000 foreigners—probably a conservative estimate,
says Jacob Sims of IJM. Most are deceived into travelling to Cambodia.据柬埔寨政府数据，每年有8万到10万外国人被诈骗团伙雇佣来。这些人大部分是“因邀请来旅游”而被困在骗子工厂的。The first reports of human trafficking
emerged in local media in early 2021. IJM conducted its first rescue in April
of that year. Since then, foreign embassies in Cambodia have been working
frantically to extract their citizens. Some are released when their families
pay thousands of dollars in ransom. Others manage to escape. A few throw
themselves off balconies. The governments of at least eight Asian countries
have warned their citizens about too-good-to-be-true jobs in Cambodia.2021年，第一起贩卖人口案出现在当地媒体上。当家人缴纳赎金之后，犯罪团伙也会放人。有些被困的人，因为逃跑，选择跳窗。亚洲八国政府警告民众，不要相信那些“太过完美的”工作。Free and safely back in Malaysia, Mr Tan
is one of the lucky ones. Yet he struggles to see it that way. Before he
escaped, his captors took his bank cards and phone. They then locked him out of
his bank accounts, preventing him from accessing his life savings. Before he
had a chance to explain to his wife that he had been kidnapped, she blocked his
number. His former captors began posting her personal information online. She
believes Mr Tan was responsible and now wants a divorce. Mr Tan escaped. But,
like victims the world over, he too has paid a steep price. ■幸运的是, Tan被救了出来。但也付出了巨大的代价：自己的银行被冻结，妻子的个人信息被放置在网上。
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