Two newly published papers shed light on one of the most troubling trends to emerge in post-coup Myanmar — the continued rise of cyber scam farms as global crime centres, built on forced labour, human trafficking, money laundering and state complicity in protecting a huge range of crimes and abuses.
Scam haven: Responding to surging cyber crime and human trafficking in Myanmar and Hooked by hope: Social media as a Myanmar scam-worker recruitment tool reveal how cyber scam operations and human trafficking have become deeply embedded in Myanmar’s political and digital landscape.
“Scam haven: Responding to surging cyber crime and human trafficking in Myanmar“ explores how organized crime networks, often operating under the protection or indirect cooperation of the State Administration Council (SAC) and affiliated militias, have established large-scale scam compounds across border areas such as Myawaddy, Shwe Kokko, and Laukkai. Drawing on open-source data, interviews, and field reports, the study reveals how the convergence of armed conflict, corruption, and digital exploitation has produced a transnational ecosystem of cybercrime.
The report also examines the failures of Operation 1027 and other enforcement campaigns, which, despite international attention, have done little to dismantle the networks’ core infrastructure. It concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for cross-border cooperation, digital platform accountability, and survivor-centered rehabilitation frameworks to address what has become one of the region’s most complex humanitarian and cybercrime crises.
“Hooked by hope: Social media as a Myanmar scam-worker recruitment tool” investigates the digital recruitment and human trafficking mechanisms that sustain Myanmar’s booming scam industry. The study traces how social media and messaging platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Telegram, and Viber are exploited to lure vulnerable job seekers — particularly from Myanmar, Thailand, and other parts of Asia and Africa — into forced labour in cyber scam compounds.
Using survivor testimonies, digital ethnography, and discourse analysis, the research uncovers the psychological manipulation and deceptive advertising tactics used to attract victims with false promises of high-paying IT jobs. Once recruited, workers are subjected to coercion, violence, and inhumane working conditions, often under the surveillance of armed groups and private brokers.
The paper highlights the intersection between digital precarity, displacement, and authoritarian control, arguing that online fraud and human trafficking in Myanmar reflect deeper failures of governance and digital accountability. It calls for multi-stakeholder collaboration between governments, civil society, and technology platforms to prevent digital recruitment abuses and support victims’ reintegration.
Keywords: human trafficking, digital recruitment, social media, forced labour, migration, Myanmar, digital governance, cyber scam, transnational crime, digital economy, corruption, Myanmar coup, Operation 1027, border security
These studies are part of the K4DM small grants initiative, which supports emerging scholars in Myanmar.