Andi (not his real name) still recalls the moment the overseas job offer arrived—it was a chance he didn’t want to miss. The promise of a better life for his family and the dream of working abroad seemed within reach. He quickly accepted the offer, which came through a friend.
"They offered me a job in Thailand as a customer service agent," Andi told Narasi.
"I didn’t have to pay anything—they covered the tickets."
Two days later, Andi flew to Thailand from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport, holding a ticket provided by a contact arranged online by his friend. Upon landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport, he was picked up and taken to stay in Bangkok.
“I forgot the name of the hotel, but it was in Bangkok,” he said.
At first, he suspected nothing. But the next day, he was flown again—this time from Bangkok to Mae Sot, a border area between Thailand and Myanmar. There, a Chinese national picked him up and transferred him into another car in a hotel parking lot.
Andi remembered the hotel was named “02” in a district in Mae Sot, located at 200 Mae Pa, Mae Sot District, Tak 63110, Thailand. From there, he was switched into another vehicle and taken to a location near the Thai-Myanmar border, where he waited for nearly half an hour.
Hotel 02, Mae Sot, Thailand @google
He suspects the place was controlled by corrupt Thai immigration officers, as he was asked to hand over his identification. Soon after, Andi was taken across the Moei River. It was at that moment he began to feel uneasy—he had been taken far from Bangkok, where the job was supposedly based.
When he reached Myanmar, he was greeted by armed soldiers at the border and transported in a military-style vehicle alongside Chinese nationals he had met earlier in Mae Sot.
“That’s when I really started feeling suspicious,” he said.
“The job was supposed to be in Bangkok, but I was taken all the way to the border.”
Abdul, a resident of Bekasi, West Java, still remembers when he received a job offer in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. He and about eleven others were gathered at a local restaurant in Bekasi by a husband-and-wife pair before flying out.
Having no reason to be suspicious, Abdul departed for Thailand with the rest of the group. They flew from Soekarno-Hatta Airport in the early morning and entered Thailand through Don Mueang Airport. Upon arrival, they were met by a Singaporean national who welcomed them and took them out for a meal in Bangkok.
There, they were briefed about working for a digital company. The next day, they were transported by minibus to Mae Sot, a Thai district bordering Myanmar. At first, Abdul suspected nothing. But once they crossed the Moei River and were met by soldiers with long-barrelled weapons.
“We were met by armed soldiers and taken away in a vehicle,” Abdul said.
He was brought to a location he would later learn was a cyber scam center. There, he met Robiin—a former member of the Indramayu Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) in West Java—who had also fallen victim to trafficking and forced labor in the same Myanmar border scam operation.
We spoke with Robiin shortly after he was released and had returned to Indonesia. He recounted how he was lured by a job posting on Facebook. At the time, Robiin was working in Singapore. The ad promised high-paying work in Thailand, and he decided to pursue it.
He bought his own plane ticket to Thailand and followed the scammer’s instructions via phone. They led him all the way to the Thai-Myanmar border, where he crossed the Moei River. It wasn’t until he arrived in Myanmar and was picked up by armed guards that he realized he had been deceived.
“I was in Singapore at the time, and the promise of a lucrative salary drew me in,” Robiin said. “I flew to Thailand, thinking I was starting a legitimate job.”
Chapter II: Forced to Scam and Days of Violence
Andi still recalls his first moments inside the scam compound. He was brought before a Malaysian national who served as the recruitment manager. Andi pleaded to be sent home, but his request was in vain.
“I’m a victim too,” the Malaysian recruiter told him. “Just do the job and survive. If you try to escape, it could cost you your life.”
Andi described the compound as heavily guarded and nearly impossible to escape. Armed soldiers watched the main gate, while the perimeter was secured with barbed wire and CCTV. The scam site resembled a walled business complex, complete with surveillance posts and soldiers stationed every few meters.
Within the compound, everything was provided—from supermarkets and hotels to entertainment centers. There was only one entrance, and the area was surrounded by four-story buildings. Some were used to house trafficked victims, others functioned as operational offices for the scam syndicate.
Andi would later learn that the site was known as KK Park, a name that appeared frequently in news reports on scam hubs in Southeast Asia. He only discovered the location’s identity after escaping and sharing his location with family members in Indonesia.
“I managed to send my location to my family,” Andi said.
Satellite image of KK Park © Maxar Technologies
While at KK Park, Andi was forced to work as an online scammer. His job was to create fake Instagram accounts, often pretending to be women entrepreneurs, with the aim of targeting victims in Europe and the United States.
“I had to create multiple accounts and pose as a businesswoman,” he explained. “The target was always Westerners—Europeans and Americans.”
Each worker was given a quota. If they failed to meet it, punishments followed. Escape attempts brought even harsher consequences. Andi recalled beatings and punishments, including physical abuse and, in some cases, electric shocks.
“Some people were tasered,” he said. “I wasn’t, but I was forced to run laps around the field.”
In KK Park, victims had little choice but to comply. Monitored constantly, they worked nearly 24 hours a day in front of computers, trapped in a cycle of manipulation and coercion.
Screenshot of the Instagram account of the woman Andi created to trap victims of online fraud in KK Park/ Narasi
Abdul had a slightly different experience. Initially, he was also tasked with creating fake accounts to lure victims. But later, his role shifted to gathering as many phone numbers as possible to pass on to another team that would then initiate online contact.
Just like Andi, Abdul faced violence if he failed to meet his quota—hundreds of phone numbers per day.
“I was beaten too,” Abdul said. “But it wasn’t as extreme as what you see in some of the videos. The worst were the beatings and the electrocutions.”
The constant pressure, threats, and violence left the victims mentally and physically shattered. They worked exhausting hours without pay, enduring brutal treatment with no way out.
Robiin recounted working over 12 hours a day without receiving any wages. His task was to identify potential victims through TikTok. If he failed to deliver phone numbers, he would face extended hours and physical punishment.
“I never got paid, not even once,” Robiin said.
Day after day, victims like Andi, Abdul, and Robiin endured what they described as the most traumatic time of their lives. They woke up to scam, returned to sleep just before dawn, and repeated the process under constant fear and surveillance.
The only way out? A ransom payment.
Syndicate members would demand tens of thousands of dollars from victims’ families in exchange for their release. Even then, there was no guarantee they would be freed.
“If you want to get out, you have to pay the ransom,” said Robiin.
A report by Chainalysis found that the scam centers in Myanmar—especially KK Park—were largely controlled by Chinese criminal gangs. The site held around 2,000 scam workers, many of whom were victims of trafficking.
The graphic from Chainalysis Reactor revealed wallet addresses linked to KK Park operations.
Interestingly, some crypto wallets used for scam profits also appeared to receive ransom payments from families trying to free their loved ones.
“Some scam operations may be blending fraud revenue with ransom payments from trafficking victims' families,” said Eric Heintz, a global analyst at the International Justice Mission’s Global Fusion Center.
Heintz and his team assist IJM field offices in rescuing victims. They track criminal gangs, monitor recruitment on social media, analyze satellite images of scam compounds, and stay in touch with survivors.
Chapter III: The Business Network of BGF Militias and Chinese Criminal Gangs
Over the past decade, the Karen BGF/KNA region has become a key hub in Southeast Asia’s vast cyber fraud and illegal online gambling network, generating billions of dollars in illicit profit. The leadership of the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) has profited handsomely from these transnational crimes—earning revenue from land control, direct investments in real estate developments through joint ventures, taxation, security, smuggling, human trafficking, and the sale of utilities.
Cyber Scam Monitor, a project created to document and expose cyber fraud operations in Southeast Asia, described how some operations established massive complexes to house dozens of scam companies. In other cases, hotels and condominiums were rented by operators to carry out their fraud.
In most cases, these operations were run by gangsters and organized crime groups, often with connections to local elites—or at least with their silent consent and protection.
Among the scam hubs under BGF control, KK Park stood out. As Andi recalled from his time inside the fraud compound, the walls bore the name Dongmei Group. We tried to trace this company.
The earliest known reference to Dongmei Group came from a 2023 investigative report by The New York Times that exposed the scam compound in KK Park. The report detailed the story of a Chinese man—nicknamed Neo—who was trafficked to the site under false promises of a high-paying translator job, only to be forced into crypto scams for a Chinese crime syndicate.
Neo was imprisoned at Dongmei Park for seven months. The compound was described as a “no-go zone,” where drugs were easily accessible and dormitory-like buildings doubled as brothels. Military-style guards and watchtowers made escape nearly impossible—just as Andi described KK Park.
“I remember the wall had the name Dongmei Group written on it,” said Andi.
One of Dongmei Park’s major investors is Wan Kuok-koi, also known as Broken Tooth (Yin Gouju), a former boss of the Chinese 14K Triad, and a wanted man in Malaysia, according to Justice For Myanmar. Wan is also associated with Saw Chit Thu, a 54-year-old colonel and “senior adviser” to the BGF.
In 2020, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Wan Kuok-koi, Dongmei Group, and the World Hongmen History and Culture Association, which he chairs.
The U.S. Treasury noted that the World Hongmen group had “expanded throughout Southeast Asia” and served as a front for the 14K Triad’s criminal activities.
Dongmei Group has a registered business in Hong Kong, the US-approved Dongmei Investment Group Company Limited, with 2 Malaysian directors & shareholders: Datuk Abdul Shakor bin Abu Bakar & Yong Mun Hong.
Wan Kuok-koi co-founded Dongmei Park with Dato Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim, a Malaysian citizen and former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, as well as a former senator from UMNO (United Malays National Organisation). She holds a PhD in Islamic Sharia.
Despite her political background, Mashitah remained active in UMNO after her involvement with Wan and Dongmei Group. In 2022, she ran for a parliamentary seat in Kuala Kedah (unsuccessfully). On her personal Facebook page, she referred to herself as the “iron lady” behind the Dongmei Park project.
Her husband, Datuk Abdul Shakor bin Abu Bakar, is a former Malaysian diplomat. Another associate, Dato Sri Liong Kee Huat, is described by the World Hongmen Association as an adviser to Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
Dongmei Group also has a registered business in Hong Kong—Dongmei Investment Group Company Limited—with two Malaysian directors and shareholders: Abdul Shakor and Yong Mun Hong.
Dongmei is linked to another Malaysian company, Grand Commerce Network Sdn. Bhd., owned by Mashitah and Abdul Shakor, with Mashitah holding the controlling stake.
Datuk Abdul Shakor bin Abu Bakar speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Dongmei Park in Myawaddy township. Karen's BGF squad stands in the background. Source: Mashitah Ibrahim Facebook account, 2020
On January 29, 2020, Mashitah Ibrahim, Abdul Shakor, and Dato Sri Liong Kee Huat traveled to Thailand and Myawaddy Township, Myanmar, along with several associates. One photo shows Mashitah and Liong Kee Huat at what appears to be the construction site of the Saixigang Industrial Park, accompanied by BGF troops.
On February 24, 2020, Mashitah posted photos from the groundbreaking ceremony of the Dongmei Park project in Myawaddy, an event also publicized by the World Hongmen Association.
During the ceremony, Abdul Shakor gave a speech referencing their “in-depth research and market analysis,” calling Myawaddy a “potential investment haven.” He mentioned prospects in tourism, gemstones, entertainment, and blockchain development. (In 2022, Liong Kee Huat and another Dongmei investor launched a cryptocurrency called Meta X Dao.)
In another video of the ceremony, guests onstage counted down in Mandarin before cheering. Wan Kuok-koi stood front and center, flanked by Mashitah and Abdul Shakor.
Footage from the Dongmei Park groundbreaking ceremony in Myawaddy Township. Wan Kuok-koi stands between Mashitah Ibrahim and Abdul Shakor.Source: Mashitah Ibrahim’s Facebook page, 2020
In August 2024, Malaysia’s police and anti-corruption agency launched an investigation into Mashitah Ibrahim and her husband, Abdul Shakor. Authorities planned to question witnesses and summon Mashitah for questioning in July 2024.
Mashitah has denied any involvement in KK Park’s scam operations. However, Justice For Myanmar’s findings have made such denials increasingly difficult to sustain.
“I will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone trying to defame me with false accusations,” she said, as quoted by Malaymail.com.
CHAPTER VI: Cambodia & The Story of Other Scam Headquarters
For Ujang, a man from Sumatra, the opportunity to work abroad was a dream come true. One day in 2022, he received an offer from someone he had just met on Facebook. This person promised him a job at a digital company in Thailand. It was a familiar pattern — a method of recruitment that mirrored many other human trafficking cases linked to online scam operations in Myanmar.
Ujang decided to accept the offer. He traveled to Thailand, but soon found himself in Cambodia. There, he was held captive at a location near the border, his passport confiscated, and he was forced to engage in various types of online fraud, from romance scams to marketplace fraud. "There was also love scamming," Ujang recounted.
Love scamming is a type of digital romance fraud that has been increasingly prevalent, with its victims often coming from Europe, America, or wealthy individuals from the Middle East who have ample retirement funds. The perpetrators typically pose as businesspeople, mostly women involved in stock investments, luring victims to deposit funds for "investments." Once trapped, the victims' money is drained and transferred via cryptocurrency wallets.
While working as a scammer in Cambodia, Ujang was almost never allowed to leave the compound where he was detained. Interestingly, the compound, he said, was situated amidst a busy area, blending in with surrounding high-rise buildings. Ujang couldn't identify the exact location of his captivity, but he knew it was somewhere along the Thailand-Cambodia border. "The security was tight," he said. "Fleeing was too risky."
The constant pressure, intimidation, and violence left victims with no opportunity to escape, and they lived in fear. It was in this place that Ujang met Rio, another Indonesian man, who had fallen victim to human trafficking after being enticed by a high-paying job offer in Thailand. In reality, he was sold to Cambodia as part of an online scam operation.
Rio traveled through Singapore in mid-2023, from a contact he had met in Batam. The two communicated only by phone, never meeting in person. "Everything was over the phone. I never met the person," he said.
Both Ujang and Rio eventually gained their freedom after sending a covert testimonial to the Indonesian Consulate General in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. They had recorded a video a few months prior, detailing their situation. According to Ujang, they had been threatened and accused of leaking information about their conditions to the police, even receiving death threats. Nevertheless, they were eventually released.
Interestingly, before reaching out to the Indonesian Consulate via email, five other Indonesian victims had already reported their ordeal to the Cambodian police, claiming to be victims of human trafficking. Unfortunately, their reports were leaked to the company, leading to further threats. "Reporting to the police there was useless because they were already in cahoots," Ujang said. "But fortunately, we were already in Indonesia."
Ujang recalls that the company they worked for was officially registered as a casino, with authorization from the Cambodian government to operate gambling establishments. However, the casino was merely a front. The real operation was a digital scam headquarters, managed by a Chinese national. Ujang and Rio were unaware of the office's name or the company they were employed by.
"I don’t know; all we knew was that they were registered as a casino," Ujang said.
We struggled to verify or identify the company that employed them in Cambodia, as well as its location. Both Ujang and Rio mentioned that it was situated near the border between Thailand and Cambodia. Our best guess is that the location of the office where Ujang and Rio were held is in the Kandal Province, Cambodia.
In August 2022, this area gained attention as one of the hubs for online scams after victims, mostly from Vietnam, escaped due to exploitation and forced labor that didn’t align with what had been promised.
CHAPTER V: From Gambling Hub to Scam Headquarters
Cambodia has long been known as a hotspot for legal gambling, which has expanded rapidly since 2010. The gambling boom first took off in Sihanoukville, where development reached its peak in 2019 when the local government legalized and granted licenses for Chinese investments in gambling.
As Sihanoukville grew, it became akin to the Wild West—a borderland once famous in the 19th century for lawlessness, violence, and the romanticized image of cowboys and outlaws. Sihanoukville now represents this in Southeast Asia, a place where crime and violence have escalated in the region.
According to Google Maps, by 2019, there were at least 135 online gambling sites registered in Cambodia, coinciding with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s announcement that online gambling would be banned and no new licenses would be issued.
The ban officially came into effect on January 1, 2020, and by the end of that month, the government reported that 200,000 Chinese nationals had left Cambodia due to the ban on online gambling. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic.
Screenshot of the casino in Sihanoukville, the original file can be seen here
Despite its past reputation as a gambling destination, Cambodia has since transformed into a hotbed for online crime. Although the Cambodian government has repeatedly denied these allegations, reports continue to surface about criminal gangs operating in the country.
In October 2024, Korean media outlet KBS reported that a Korean national had fallen victim to human trafficking and was forced to work at an online scam center in Phnom Penh. Cambodian authorities quickly denied these claims, calling them baseless, and issued a rebuttal on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Indonesia received chilling news about two people who reportedly died in Cambodia after being trapped in human trafficking, forced to participate in online fraud. The case is still under investigation by Indonesian authorities, but there has been no response from the Cambodian government.
Although Cambodian security forces continue to deny the presence of online scam operations, visits to these locations by Cyber Scam Monitor and other observers have identified extensive construction activities at several sites, indicating a connection to scam centers.
One of the most notorious scam hubs in Cambodia, MDS Henghe Thmorda SEZ, has undergone massive demolitions and the construction of 20 new buildings this year. Reports of human trafficking and confinement within this zone have been documented since 2021.
In Koh Kong, a site linked to Senator Ly Yong Phat, who was sanctioned in a 2023 New York Times report, is expanding southward with several large buildings under construction and more land being prepared for development.
Another known location where workers are held behind high walls is Wo Casino in Kampot. The cleanup and construction continue in 2024.
In Kandal, rapid development and the expansion of existing online scam complexes continue in the Sampeou Poun area. CamboJA reporters have documented ongoing construction at the Jinwan complex, which is already partially operational, as well as a mysterious site nearby. This latter location emerged from the ground within the past 10 months.
Outside the city of Poipet, other constructions have appeared on former rice fields in O Bei Choan, where around 100 hectares of land have been cleared, and buildings are rapidly rising. Discussions in online scam industry groups indicate that operators have moved here from other parts of the country and Myanmar. It is said that hundreds of foreign nationals have relocated to the area.
Screenshot of online scam center construction in O Bei Choan, suspected to be connected to scam centers in Myanmar @Cyber Scam Monitory
Bavet City in Svay Rieng Province, long known for its casinos, has seen a surge in online scam operations branching out from the main roads into the rural areas. Two recent developments have sprouted along the border with Vietnam. The first began in 2022, with more than half a dozen new buildings added by 2024. The second started in 2023 and has doubled in size this year. In both locations, completed buildings are already operational.
Not far from Phnom Penh, a newly walled complex has emerged in just ten months. Known as ‘Mango 2,’ the site was featured in the recent KBS Korea broadcast about a Korean national who was lured into scam work in Cambodia and forced to stay there. Although Cambodia’s National Police dismissed the report as fabrication, one of the other complexes shown in the report was raided just days after the KBS broadcast.
Two new sites have been identified in Tbong Khmum Province, each covering more than 50 hectares. The first, in Anlong Chrey, is a large office complex, some of which rise over 15 floors. While still under construction, this project shares similarities with many other online scam parks across the country. Also close to the border, another massive complex began construction this year in Trapeang Phlong, featuring dozens of new buildings. This area is expected to house the relocated gambling hub from Sihanoukville.