Bitcoin and other human trafficking scams in Asia

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A raid by Cambodian authorities on a hotel-casino freed two suspected hostages and exposed a series of crimes, including cryptocurrency gambling and crypto scams, as a local news website reported. The raid took place in an area called “China Project” and several suspects detained and the two hostages were from China.

According to a 2021 report from Crypto Head, China was the sixth most targeted country in terms of crypto breaches. On top of that, the most targeted currency was Bitcoin.

Far from being an isolated incident, human trafficking constitutes a large part of organized crime in Cambodia. These cases involve perpetrators and victims from different Asian countries. In recent times, crypto crimes have also increased. There have been many recent reports of victims of human trafficking being forced to trick men and women into investing in Bitcoin and other crypto scams.

The reason for Cambodia’s popularity among organized crime masterminds could be due to its poor enforcement of online gambling bans. Another factor could be its regulation of unlicensed cryptocurrency, which is not strict compared to that of China.

Additionally, according to the aforementioned Crypto Head report, the most rewarding crypto crime was fraud, with a loss of over $ 14 billion since 2011.

Nowhere to go

Due to corrupt institutions and the decentralized nature of crypto, poverty-stricken human trafficking survivors forced to carry out Bitcoin scams in Cambodia were unlikely to find justice. For many, returning home alive was their only priority.

A regional trend

Looking at it from a different perspective, it should be noted that countries in Southeast Asia rank among the top users of cryptocurrencies, according to a survey by Statista. Additionally, Cambodia’s neighbor Vietnam recorded the second highest rate of cryptocurrency use, with 21% of respondents reporting having used or held a cryptocurrency. The country is also experiencing a growing demand for crypto mining equipment. For migrant workers in Southeast Asia, finding a way to save money on remittances has sparked interest in crypto-based options.

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