Appearance and Impact of Scamming Businesses on Today’s Society

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Yin Nwe Ko

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Appearance and Impact of Scamming Businesses on Today’s Society

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What is scamming? How does it work? How are young people connected to it? How can we avoid scamming businesses? I am going to answer these questions, so I would like to encourage you to read it up to the end.
The word “scamming” comes from the Chinese language and is pronounced as “Zhàpiàn,” (in Myanmar “ကျားဖြန့်”). In Chinese, it means “cheating” or “fraud.” Today, scamming businesses are well known in Southeast Asia as fraud operations, mostly working online to trick people.
One important question is: Who started these scamming businesses? Since the word comes from Chinese, many people believe that scamming businesses started in China. When IT technology developed rapidly in China, these businesses also grew internationally.
Scamming businesses have different types. Some mainly target Western countries, especially rich people, retirees, and those over 40 years old. They often focus on wealthy people in America and Europe.
Scamming businesses are not simple fraud operations. They are large-scale businesses that include human trafficking, forced labour, illegal weapons trade, drug smuggling, gambling, and many other illegal activities.

Where are scamming businesses based?
Where do they operate the most? The answer is simple. These businesses are mostly found in poor Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar. They set up large offices and hire workers in these developing countries.

How do they find workers?
There are two main ways. First, they attract people by offering high salaries but later force them to work. Second, they use human trafficking to kidnap people and make them work against their will. In Myanmar, most of these businesses are located in border areas. They do not operate secretly but in large, well-protected buildings.

How Scamming Businesses Operate
Understanding how scamming businesses operate is very important. It is also their biggest secret. The process includes setting up a base, collecting information, recruiting workers, starting operations, and finally running scams.

Setting Up the Base
As mentioned earlier, scammers choose poor and underdeveloped countries. They negotiate with local border authorities to establish their business. They rent land for 30 to 50 years and build strong buildings with high walls. For security, they also hire armed groups to protect their operations.
Another important need for scammers is the internet. They either use local internet services or connect to better internet from neighbouring countries. For example, reports say that scam businesses in Myanmar use internet services from Thailand.

Collecting Information
Many people think that scammers only recruit uneducated or low-skilled workers. However, this is not true. Scamming businesses use digital platforms, IT equipment, and online transactions, so they need skilled workers. Most employees have at least a high school education and are skilled in using the Internet and computers. Some scammers even hire IT experts.

Language Skills in Scam Operations
Workers in scam businesses need to speak at least two or three languages. For example, in Myanmar’s border areas, scammers can speak Myanmar and Chinese or Myanmar and Thai. News reports also confirm this.
Scamming is not just a simple fraud activity. It is a highly organized business that includes illegal activities such as human trafficking, forced labour, illegal trade, and cyber fraud. Understanding their operations helps people become more aware and avoid these dangerous businesses.

How Mid-Level Scammers Operate
Scamming businesses are not run randomly; they follow a well-organized system. Mid-level scammers play an important role in collecting information, avoiding detection, and managing fraud operations efficiently.

Collecting Information Before Scamming
Before they begin their fraud operations, scammers prepare fake bank accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, stock market accounts, and fake websites. These are used to make their scams look real and professional.
When searching for victims, scammers mainly target wealthy people from developed countries. However, there are also scam operations targeting the middle class in Myanmar and other countries. They carefully collect personal details, such as home address, name, family information, job details, and financial status, before approaching their victims.

Scammers gather this information in different ways:

  • Buying personal data from businesses or authorities.

  • Using online conversations (called “chatting dialogue”) to trick victims into revealing information.

  • Following a scripted communication strategy, where senior scammers train employees on what to say based on the victim’s responses.

  • Hiring psychology experts to analyze victim behaviour and improve scamming techniques.

  • Avoiding Law Enforcement Detection

Scammers operate systematically and take precautions to avoid being caught. Their businesses generate billions of dollars, allowing them to invest in better technology, security, and well-trained employees.
For example, scammers often target retired bankers, stock investors, or foundation managers handling large donations. They study these people’s online activities and gather detailed information before making contact. Their ability to carefully research, plan, and execute fraud makes them highly organized criminal networks rather than simple scammers.

Recruitment Process in Scam Operations
Recruiting workers is a crucial part of scam operations. As mentioned earlier, scammers mainly target developing countries, poorer regions, and low-wage workers when hiring employees. They lure educated individuals with high-salary job offers and then force them to participate in scam activities.

Target Countries for Recruitment
Scammers recruit workers from China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and African nations. They reach out to potential employees through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram.

Common fake job postings include:

  • Translator jobs near border areas.

  • Factory jobs with attractive salaries.

  • Online marketing or customer service positions.
    A 2024 report revealed that there were over 500 Telegram groups dedicated to recruiting Myanmar workers into scam operations.

High Recruitment Fees
To hire workers, scammers are willing to pay huge amounts to recruiters. For example, in 2024, a single Myanmar worker could be sold to scam groups for 40,000 Thai Baht (about 600,000 MMK).
For workers from poor countries, where salaries range between K300,000 to K500,000 per month, these job offers seem extremely attractive. This is why many educated people from low-income countries fall victim to scam networks.

Scam Business Structure
Scam operations generally have three key departments:

  • Technical Team – Consists of IT specialists (mainly foreigners) who manage online scams.

  • Target Searching Team – Responsible for finding victims.

  • Communication Team – Handles conversations with victims.

Each department has around 15 to 20 employees working systematically.

Role of the Technical Team
The technical team is mainly composed of IT professionals who operate scam activities. They create fake social media accounts on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Skype using attractive photos of young women to gain victims’ trust.
They maintain these fake accounts for three to four months to make them look real. They also post random social media updates to appear legitimate. This is an ongoing task within the technical team.

Final Stages of the Scam Operation
Once the search team has found potential victims, they begin engaging them in conversation.

Using fake social media accounts created by the technical team, they initiate chats in different ways:

  • Casual conversations to build trust.

  • Flirtatious messages for male targets.

  • Job opportunities, such as investing in new businesses or earning money by watching videos.

As the conversation progresses and the victim becomes emotionally or professionally invested, they are handed over to the communication team for deeper engagement.

Manipulation by the Communication Team

This team, consisting of around 15 people, is responsible for fully convincing the victim. They engage in carefully planned dialogues:

  • Sharing fake personal stories to gain trust.

  • Showing edited photos as proof of their “authenticity”.

  • Talking about their “successful business ventures”.

Through constant interaction, the victim is slowly pulled into the scammers’ trap.

Executing the Final Scam
At this stage, the scammers persuade the victim to invest in fake stock markets, trading platforms, or cryptocurrency exchanges created by the technical team.
Initially, small profits are given to victims, making them believe they are earning real money.

  • This psychological trick encourages them to invest larger amounts.

  • Eventually, once a significant amount is invested, the scammers:

  • Shut down the platform and disappear.

  • Use fake links and QR codes to hack victims’ bank accounts.

  • Steal money through mobile payment apps.

  • Many victims only realize they have been scammed when it’s too late.

In conclusion, this article has provided a step-by-step breakdown of how scam operations function. In the end, these scams exploit human greed – the desire for easy money. While everyone has some level of greed, scammers manipulate it to trap victims into financial ruin. By understanding these tactics, people can protect themselves and others from falling prey to these deceptive schemes.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

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While ASEAN exhibitors focused more on agricultural products and small commodities, Chinese exhibitors focused on high-tech products such as NEVs and robots.“The world is currently facing an economic slowdown… ASEAN member countries are pinning their hopes on China,” Tan Sri Dato’ Low Kian Chuan, President of The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM), told the Global Times on Tuesday on the sidelines of the China-ASEAN Expo. “It can be seen from the trade volume that China-ASEAN trade has surpassed the EU. We need China, and China also needs ASEAN. Bilateral cooperation will definitely deepen.”In the first eight months of 2023, China’s total imports and exports dropped by 0.1 per cent year-on-year to 27.08 trillion yuan, with exports growing by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to 15.47 trillion yuan, according to data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC). However, there were also plenty of emerging trends that point to the resilience and upgrade of China’s trade sector.From January to August, China’s imports and exports with 152 countries that are participating in the joint construction of the China-proposed BRI grew by 3.6 per cent yearon-year to 12.62 trillion yuan, accounting for 46.6 per cent of China’s total foreign trade. China’s trade with ASEAN, which remains China’s biggest trading partner, grew by 1.6 per cent year-on-year to 4.11 trillion, accounting for 15.2 per cent of China’s total trade. The fall in China’s overall trade during the period is largely due to declines in exports to the EU, the US and Japan, which all face stubbornly high levels of inflation.In terms of top export products, demand for Chinese-made mechanical and electrical products remained high, as exports during the first eight months increased 3.6 per cent year-onyear. Exports of cars, including NEVs, skyrocketed by 104.4 per cent year-on-year. China’s car exports have made headlines around the globe, with many foreign media outlets predicting that China is set to overtake Japan as the world’s biggest car exporter in 2023.A slew of advanced technology exhibits was unveiled at the China-ASEAN Expo. The exhibits cover a wide range of products, spanning aerospace, advanced manufacturing, sustainable development, and digital advanced applicable technologies, offering the audience a glimpse of life in the future. The advanced tech exhibition area covers an area of 3,400 square metres, with a total of 124 exhibitors and 345 exhibiting projects on display.Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said Chinese products still maintain a solid competitive edge even though Chinese exports face challenges such as US’ additional tariffs. Gao noted the challenges will be relatively short-term against the back-drop of the trade competition between China and the US. “The core factor affecting China’s trade, namely the competitiveness of Chinese products, has not undergone major changes,” Gao told the Global Times, adding that while the role of exports as a major economic engine is decreasing due to the rise of Chinese consumption, China’s foreign trade still has a vast potential for development.High-quality development New trends in China’s foreign trade also underscored high-quality development, in which more markets have been explored and more Chinese-made high-tech products are getting increasingly popular around the world, analysts noted, stressing that an increasingly optimized trade structure that focuses on emerging markets and industries is more sustainable in the long run.Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that one of the biggest highlights of China’s foreign trade is that the trade volume with countries participating in the BRI is rising sharply, which in turn lifts local economic developments and thus demand. In terms of product offerings, China’s exports sector has responded swiftly to demand for the digital economy, green development and other new consumption trends.“To gauge the global influence of one country’s exports, we still need to see whether it can meet the needs of global economic and industrial upgrading, so the quality of exports needs more attention. China’s exports are still recovering, and this recovery is not only reflected in the quantity,” Zhou told the Global Times. “We cannot just focus on increasing the scale of exports, we also need to improve the quality.”Amid the rapidly shifting global geo-economic landscape and the domestic industrial upgrade, China has made high-quality development in foreign trade one of its top priorities, and has taken a slew of measures in this regard. In April, the Ministry of Commerce introduced a series of policies to stabilize the scale of foreign trade and improve its structure, including helping automakers establish and improve their international marketing and service systems, and improving foreign trade financing services for medium, small and micro enterprises. These measures have greatly helped boost relevant sectors such as soaring NEV exports.Another highlight of China’s foreign trade sectors this year is surging exports by private enterprises. In the first eight months, total exports value by private enterprises rose by 6 per cent to 14.33 trillion yuan, accounting for 52.9 per cent of the national total, according to the GAC.The measures, which also include extensively resuming domestic offline exhibitions, will continue to help enterprises explore more markets. China has held a series of trade fairs this year, including the China-ASEAN Expo and the China International Fair for Trade in Services earlier this month. More are under planning, including the China International Import Expo scheduled later this year in Shanghai, which has become a major event for global trade cooperation that focuses on imports. “I have confidence in China. I believe that China has the conditions and capabilities. Moreover, China is not just the world’s largest factory. It can make breakthroughs and cope with the current challenges through its own technological innovation,” Low said. Source- The Global New Light of Myanmar
Crackdown on illegal trade to boost legal trade
Crackdown on illegal trade to boost legal trade
ILLEGAL trade can hamper the economic development of the State by reducing manufacturing activity among business owners and diminishing their competitive capability in the market. Preventing illegal trade can boost export volume and enhance the commercial sector by promoting product manufacturing and market competition. Additionally, these initiatives can increase local money circulation, raise export product volume, and generate more foreign exchange. As a result, the country can experience growth in its manufacturing, trade, and service sectors.Myanmar is rich in natural resources, with a strong focus on the agricultural sector. To boost the state economy, the government has encouraged the manufacturing of natural resource-based products and agricultural goods while also working to promote micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). However, illegal trade activities have had negative impacts on the nation’s socioeconomic sector.Illegal trade eradication task forces formed in regions and states managed relevant squads, impounding smuggled goods and addressing illegal trade activities worth K300.28 billion across 14,659 cases during the two years and eight months from January 2022 to August 2024. However, this amount was relatively small compared to the State’s overall trade sector. Therefore, authorities and task forces must intensify efforts to take action against those involved in illegal trade activities.With regard to seizures in July and August 2024, the Customs Department nabbed the most considerable amount and volume of illegal trade process, followed by the task force from Mandalay Region, Sagaing Region and Kahin State in series. The authorities seized unregistered vehicles and illicit commodities in the largest volume, industrial raw materials in the second largest volume and capital goods in the third largest one.The economic development of a country depends on manufacturing and trade sectors. As such, authorities need to encourage agriculture- and livestock-based businesses. Meanwhile, relevant ministries have to fulfil the basic needs of farmers from the agriculture and livestock breeding sectors as part of implementing the assigned duties.It is necessary to supply fertilizers, pesticides, quality strains of seeds, agricultural inputs, animal feeds, vaccines, and other needs to farmers on time. On the other hand, relevant authorized bodies need to systematically supervise the trafficking of prohibited goods, taking advantage of priority on legal trade measures. If so, legal trade contributes to local businesspersons and traders on their official process at home and crack down on illegal trade processes.        
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