How uneven borders fuel Myanmar’s vast and resilient scam economy

Southeast Asia has become “ground zero” for the global online scamming industry, according to the UN, costing victims billions of US dollars each year. Scam operations are run by Chinese crime syndicates from fortified compounds in countries like Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a nationwide armed conflict since 2021. The size of the scam industry has led to sustained security crackdowns in recent years. This has included a number of joint operations involving police forces from multiple...