China Daily and other news outlets have shared a sombre story about a girl who lured her lover into a trap.
A trial against a 17-year-old girl on charges of telecom fraud will be held soon, according to media reports.
The girl, surnamed Zhou, who is currently facing prosecution, was allegedly involved in selling her 19-year-old boyfriend to a telecom fraud compound in Myanmar in early February.
Life can be cheap at times.
Zhou’s boyfriend, surnamed Huang, was allegedly sold for 100,000 yuan ($13,900), according to the report.
The young man had his head shaved and was locked in a small, dark room to participate in telecom fraud each day.
A typical day in the compound saw Huang working between 16 and 20 hours. Huang lost 10kg in weight during the 4 months they imprisoned him, and suffered permanent hearing loss as a result of the beatings he received while there. His story is not unusual. Many victims who were forced to work as slaves in Myanmar scam compounds have subsequently reported that violent punishment was meted out to anyone who failed to meet targets for the number of people they were required to scam each day.
Zhou presented herself as being from a wealthy family that ran a business in Myanmar, and she suggested that they both work for the family business soon after they became a couple. Huang agreed to join Zhou on a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, and to then travel with her to the Myanmar border. However, the men who met them at the border did not welcome Huang as expected. They carried guns and immediately demanded that Huang hand over his passport and mobile phone.
Huang was taken by the armed men to the scam compound where he was forced to work while Zhou returned to Thailand. With external assistance, Huang was eventually able to purchase his freedom for RMB350,000 (USD48,800). Evidently the cost of life rises and falls depending on who is buying and selling.
Zhou spent 10 days in Thailand but was detained by police upon her return to China. She now faces a potential prison sentence of 10 years. According to Chinese law, somebody can be found guilty of providing assistance to telecoms fraud even if they did not commit those frauds themselves. China introduced severe penalties to reduce telecoms scams in 2016 and has proactively sought the extradition and trial of Chinese citizens willingly involved in committing frauds from overseas scam compounds.
War in Myanmar has disrupted some scam compounds, leading to large numbers of trafficking victims being released and seeking assistance with repatriation. However, other scam compounds continue to operate in the country. It is the moral duty of the global comms sector to take away the incentive for crime by diligently and urgently disrupting all methods of communications used by scammers.
