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How trafficking victims are tortured into love-bombing Brits  in brutal scam factories… & risk  slit throat if they fail

How trafficking victims are tortured into love-bombing Brits in brutal scam factories… & risk slit throat if they fail

The Irish Sun2 days ago
ROMANCE scams costs millions of lonely victims their life savings, every year, as heartless criminals prey on the vulnerable and lonely with sophisticated online cons.
But what most don't realise is that the scammers may well be victims themselves.
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Mariana talks to people who made it out alive and to discover who is behind these heart-breaking scams
Credit: National Geographic
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Angel, a scam compound model tells Mariana she is forced into sex with bosses
Credit: National Geographic
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If scammers like Ajay try to escape, they risk being murdered by their captors
Credit: National Geographic
They are human trafficking victims who are brutally tortured and forced to scam in massive factory-like compounds in Myanmar, South East Asia
And if they try to escape they risk being murdered by their captors.
Harrowing videos have emerged on social media of victims of human trafficking being electrocuted or beaten and forced to engage in a scam with a sinister name -
They are made to lure people in on dating apps, and after a period of online flirting introduce an opportunity to get rich quick on what look like serious investment sites.
SITE THE SUN FEATURES
Investigative journalist Mariana Van Zeller travelled to Myanmar to talk to people who made it out alive and to discover who is behind these heart-breaking scams.
'The scam is called
It is estimated that $75billion has been stolen worldwide and thousands of Brits are among the victims. The practice has also led to numerous suicides across the world, including one former police officer in Wiltshire who took his own life after losing £100,000.
Pig butchering compounds have been cropping up around South East Asia. But the main hub is in Myanmar.
Most read in The Sun
Mariana says: 'It is hard to believe how many people fall for pig butchering scams, but there is a proven formula that makes them so effective. After establishing trust, scammers spend weeks or even months
A whistleblower who worked in a compound with 200 others told Mariana: 'There's a lot of wrongdoing going on. I don't even know where to begin.
Lovestruck man travels 500 miles to meet beauty queen 'he believed was his 'future wife'... to be greeted by her husband
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Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller explores the inner workings of the global underworld's most dangerous black markets in a new series
Credit: National Geographic
'First I found these pretty girls who were models on social media, TikTok. I downloaded the videos and pictures they posted.
"Then I changed them quite a bit. I made sure there were no copyright issues. And then I reposted them on my
'It is like a romance scam. We target people who are lonely. It's just about making them wonder. Does she love me?
The scam is called pig butchering because like a farmer who gradually fattens up the pig, the scammer extracts more and more money from the target until finally the slaughter
Investigative journalist Mariana Van Zeller
'If you have a Myanmar ID you can move freely. But if you are a victim of
'In scam factories they beat people. If employees get sleepy or make mistakes, they are punished. If someone escapes, they might slit their throat if caught.'
Myanmar's history of political instability has made it the perfect place for
Charities working in the area estimate that more than 120,000 people are being held against their will and forced to scam.
'Tricked, tortured and trapped'
Lin is a Chinese national whose nightmare began when he accepted an offer of what appeared to be legitimate work.
'They would never just let you go,' he explains. 'When you first arrive they won't allow you to have any contact with the outside. They would start threatening you to participate in scams. 95 per cent of the people at the company were tricked into joining.
"It's like
Another victim says he was water-boarded with a pressure washer and then electrocuted.
'They beat my stomach, they put a polythene bag in my mouth, handcuffs," he says. "I stand up. And they are putting water, you know, like washing car, that pressure. 24 hours I stand like this. I'm wet, they give me electric on stomach. So much punishment.'
It is like a romance scam. We target people who are lonely. It's just about making them wonder. Does she love me
Conditions are so barbaric within the compounds that some will do anything to escape.
Lin explains: 'We planned to tie up and kidnap the supervisor and escape, but somehow they found out. They chased me, so I jumped.'
Lin jumped from a third floor window, breaking both his legs - but managed to get away.
Mariana says: 'Despite what Lin went through he is one of the lucky ones. Thousands and thousands of people being held in these compounds, tortured, beaten. The fact that nothing is being done, how is this allowed?'
Who is the puppet master?
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Mariana interviews Mr. Hur, an executive of the shadowy Chinese corporation called Yatai
Credit: National Geographic
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Nicole was scammed to the crew
Credit: National Geographic
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Yatai boss She Zhijiang, centre, is currently in jail after being linked to human trafficking
Credit: YouTube
Since the military coup in Myanmar, militia groups run the Karen area where most of the compounds are.
The city of Shwe Kokko - like a mini Las Vegas with casinos and scamming compounds - is effectively run by a shadowy Chinese corporation called Yatai.
Mariana says: 'In the last few years Yatai has been embroiled in multiple scandals relating to scamming, money laundering, and human trafficking.'
The people behind Yatai gave her a strictly controlled publicity tour of the city in an attempt to clean up their image.
Yatai's original plan was to turn Shwe Kokko into a gambling hub. They poured billions of dollars into the development but Covid and the civil war put an end to the dream.
Now it is claimed that Yatai is renting many buildings in the city to scamming companies to keep it afloat.
We planned to tie up and kidnap the supervisor and escape, but somehow they found out. They chased me, so I jumped
Lin, a scam factory survivor
Yatai say they are building an 'emerging smart city' in Myanmar, focusing on 'freedom and prosperity'.
But Yatai's boss, She Zhijiang, is currently languishing in a Thai jail awaiting extradition to China and sanctioned by the British government for links to
And the company denied that the scamming compounds are as big a problem in the city as charities and social media posts claim.
Forced into sex
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Angel reveals that sometimes, she is forced to sleep with the Chinese bosses
Credit: National Geographic
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Phillip opens up to the crew about how he was scammed
Credit: National Geographic
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Building in Shwe Kokko in Myanmar are used as scam factories
Credit: AFP
But another whistleblower, a video call model called Angel, told Mariana: 'I arrived in Shwe Kokko one and a half years ago. I'm scamming every day. I have so much pressure. I can't even sleep.
'I want to go back to my family. I don't want to come back to that kind of place.
'I have to FaceTime and talk with the target. The chatting team chats with the talker and they transfer to me.'
I have to FaceTime and talk with the target. The chatting team chats with the talker and they transfer to me
Angel is a Myanmar national, not a human trafficking victim. But financial problems left her with no option but to join a scamming company.
It is Angel's job to flirt with the victims and she works long hours, seven days a week, only being allowed to leave the compound once every six months.
And she says sometimes video call models like her are forced to sleep with the Chinese bosses.
'They told us they will fire us. I just want to refuse but they force me to. 'Don't refuse because you will be in danger'. Sometimes with the boss' friends and relatives also.
'I don't want to work anymore. I have no choice.'
For many victims like Angel, humanitarian rescue groups are their only way out. Or occasionally, if enough money can be raised to
Mariana says: 'The scale of this crisis is staggering. There are estimated to be tens of thousands of people imprisoned in these facilities. I have seen how pig butchering scams have connected and upended lives across the world.
'Whether a victim of circumstance or trafficking, those stuck in Myanmar have little recourse.'
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller airs Mondays on National Geographic at 10pm. The Scam City episode premieres 28
th
July.
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Sick moment Brit tourist is kicked in head ‘by gang trying to steal his phone' as cops arrest five 17-year-old boys
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Sick moment Brit tourist is kicked in head ‘by gang trying to steal his phone' as cops arrest five 17-year-old boys

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We live on Angela Rayner's old estate & we're desperate to move… druggies deal on my doorstep & teen girls are tooled up
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We live on Angela Rayner's old estate & we're desperate to move… druggies deal on my doorstep & teen girls are tooled up

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Huge Traveller fleet has set up camp outside our homes…they leave rubbish everywhere & want to buy my dog for £250
Huge Traveller fleet has set up camp outside our homes…they leave rubbish everywhere & want to buy my dog for £250

The Irish Sun

time7 hours ago

  • The Irish Sun

Huge Traveller fleet has set up camp outside our homes…they leave rubbish everywhere & want to buy my dog for £250

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In April, the government was forced to call in Army specialists to provide logistical support. This month, Unite said it would review its relationship with the Labour Party after the government expressed support for the council amid the strike. According to reports, lower income areas, including Sparkhill, Balsall Heath, Small Heath, Sparkbrook and Ladywood have suffered the greatest compared to more affluent suburbs like Harborne and Edgbaston. On Friday (July 25), a second megapicket co-ordinated by Strike Map started across several parts of Birmingham, involving 26 organisations from across the trade union movement, in support of the striking workers. Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn urged Birmingham City Council to 'get a deal now' as more piles of rubbish were left uncollected. 'I don't like the mess though and my kids can't use the park when they're around.' Advertisement One resident, a new mum, added: 'They make a mess, but it doesn't bother me. A lot of people here don't like it because the park is for children and it restricts them from using it.' This week the admin of the volunteer-run Swanshurst Park Facebook group posted: 'Spent another couple of hours clearing up litter round the Park. "I'm fairly sure that some of it was nothing to do with the Travellers and had been dropped last night by other people traversing the Park. 'Had some good interactions with some of the women who thanked me for my efforts and assured they would bag up their rubbish. Advertisement "We will see but I am sure it will be better than on previous occasions. "Some of the children wanted to help me and I am sure this must be the way forward to get a dialogue going.' A council spokesperson said: " steps to recover this land where unauthorised encampments encroach upon it. "The council has useable transit sites and plots for use by the Gypsy, Assessment carried out and updated in 2019 can be found on our website." Advertisement 8 Some locals are worried about letting their kids use the playpark, which sits next to the camp Credit: SWNS 8 It's the fifth time travellers have taken over the park this year Credit: SWNS 8 Children from the camp in the park this week Credit: SWNS 8 Dozens of caravans are currently parked up Credit: SWNS Advertisement 8 Many locals want the council to do more Credit: SWNS

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