UN: Hundreds of Thousands in Southeast Asia Tricked into Online Crime
2023-09-04
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1The United Nations human rights office says criminal groups have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into unlawful online scam operations.
2A scam is a dishonest way to make money by tricking people.
3The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a new report on the issue on Tuesday.
4It said that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and about 100,000 in Cambodia "may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams."
5Cybercrime scams have become a major problem in several Asian countries.
6Many workers are forced to join in scams targeting people over the internet.
7Criminal groups have increasingly targeted migrants.
8They offer false promises of real employment to the victims.
9The U.N. rights office said it is hard to estimate how many people are caught up in such operations.
10It is also difficult to know how much money the criminal groups make through their scam operations.
11But it is believed to be in the billions of U.S. dollars every year.
12Some victims have been subjected to torture, cruel punishments, sexual violence and other crimes, the rights office said.
13Pia Oberoi is a senior advisor on migration and human rights for the Asia-Pacific area at the U.N. human rights office.
14She described two kinds of victims: people who have lost large amounts of money and people trafficked into working for the scammers.
15Oberoi told reporters in Switzerland that many of the scams started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
16Lockdowns shut down casinos that were an important part of the economy along boarder areas and in Cambodia.
17The closures caused "economic distress" that left "middle class, educated...young people" out of work.
18Many of them got talked into working for the schemes.
19In May, leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed in a meeting in Indonesia to increase border controls and law enforcement.
20And they agreed on increasing public education to fight criminal groups that traffic workers to other nations, where they join in the online scams.
21I'm Gregory Stachel.
1The United Nations human rights office says criminal groups have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into unlawful online scam operations. 2A scam is a dishonest way to make money by tricking people. 3The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released a new report on the issue on Tuesday. It said that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and about 100,000 in Cambodia "may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams." 4Cybercrime scams have become a major problem in several Asian countries. Many workers are forced to join in scams targeting people over the internet. Criminal groups have increasingly targeted migrants. They offer false promises of real employment to the victims. 5The U.N. rights office said it is hard to estimate how many people are caught up in such operations. It is also difficult to know how much money the criminal groups make through their scam operations. But it is believed to be in the billions of U.S. dollars every year. 6Some victims have been subjected to torture, cruel punishments, sexual violence and other crimes, the rights office said. 7Pia Oberoi is a senior advisor on migration and human rights for the Asia-Pacific area at the U.N. human rights office. She described two kinds of victims: people who have lost large amounts of money and people trafficked into working for the scammers. 8Oberoi told reporters in Switzerland that many of the scams started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns shut down casinos that were an important part of the economy along boarder areas and in Cambodia. The closures caused "economic distress" that left "middle class, educated...young people" out of work. Many of them got talked into working for the schemes. 9In May, leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed in a meeting in Indonesia to increase border controls and law enforcement. And they agreed on increasing public education to fight criminal groups that traffic workers to other nations, where they join in the online scams. 10I'm Gregory Stachel. 11Jamey Keaten reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted the story for VOA Learning English. 12________________________________________________ 13Words in This Story 14cybercrime - n. criminal activities carried out by means of computers or the internet 15casino - n. a building or room that has games (such as roulette or blackjack) for gambling