On 18th October, HRC’s director Mina Chiang attended the 4th Global Anti-Scam Summit (GASS), presenting on “How the Impunity of Online Scams Causes Modern Slavery in Criminal Scamming Compounds”. Hosted by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), the GASS convened experts from law enforcement, consumer & financial authorities, governments, tech firms, retailers, cybersecurity companies, and social media corporations from around the world. With more than 300 million consumers scammed last year –and nearly $55 billion lost– GASA’s mission is to create a world where people are safe from the financial and emotional trauma caused by online scams. Mina’s presentation brought attention to the victims that are often unseen; those who are trafficked and forced to commit online scams. Her presentation covered the scamming compounds in Southeast Asia, the profile of the victims, and the tactics of the organised criminal gangs – who are currently several steps ahead of law enforcement and the authorities. Mina concluded with 3 key messages for the various stakeholders that have the power to make the necessary changes: 1. We must ensure that fraud is a criminal offence. 2. Imprisoning offenders is important, but asset seizing is essential. 3. Wider accountability for stakeholders who benefit from scamming and trafficking must take place. Audience members, many of whom have been fighting online scams for a long time, shared that this was their first time learning about the slavery behind them. This underscores the pivotal role of conferences such as GASS, as they foster the cross-sectoral collaboration and knowledge sharing that is needed to combat this crime. A wholehearted thank you to GASA and everyone who was involved in the Global Anti-Scam Summit. Together, we will work towards preventing scams and countering human trafficking for online scams, while supporting all the victims of this terrible crime. #humantrafficking #collaboration #GASA
Dr Emily Wyman
6mo
Really fantastic and impactful slide, Mina. We face some similar issues in tackling online sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines: Traffickers are fast and adaptive and highly incentivised due to profit margins, and we need both law and tech interventions that can predict and surpass this, to move out of responsive mode and into predictive interventions. Asset seizing is also a critical and under-developed area in my view. John Tanagho, Eric Favila, Imogen Fell.
Really fantastic
Thank you to Jonathan F. for the photo 😊
Great job Mina Chiang
Director at Ophidian Research Institute / Ophidian Films Ltd. -- anthropologist / filmmaker/ photographer
6moPreviously, despite the over-excited erotic dreams of catching the "Khun Sa of Trafficking", most trafficking in SE Asia was not organized crime, but disorganized crime. Trafficking for on-line scamming is different. It is primarily controlled by organized criminal networks, abetted by week legal structures, lack of capacity, and corruption. On the one hand, attacking an organized structure is easier because there is -- in fact -- a structure to attack (as opposed to trumpeting the arrest of Tuk-Tuk drivers, etc.); on the other, these structures are sophisticated, complex, and sometimes have greater resources than law enforcement and cross-border reach.