Crypto Prison Scams Are a Serious and Looming Public Threat, Interpol Warns

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Law enforcement is complicated by the transnational nature of the crime, with gangs operating in multiple jurisdictions and often from remote and lawless enclaves in Cambodia, Laos and particularly Myanmar, where a coup d’etat by 2021 has made international police cooperation even more difficult.

Earlier this week, a Thai state-owned company that exported electricity to neighboring Myanmar cut power to two border towns with notorious casino resorts believed to have hosted major organized crime operations.

Criminal networks are dramatically expanding their operations, and those they seek to traffic, beyond Asia, attracting educated professionals from around the world through fake job postings for tech workers, Interpol says. information or digital sales executives.

Once imprisoned in compounds, victims are subjected to forced labor, as well as beatings, sexual exploitation, torture, rape and even organ harvesting in some cases, the report said. organization.

A second group of victims are then targeted by schemes that include investment fraud, romance scams, and frauds related to cryptocurrency investing and online gambling.

Interpol warned that the model was now being replicated in other regions such as West Africa.

The gangs exploited people who had lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic, Isaac Espinoza, a senior Interpol official, told the Straits Times.

These criminal groups are now targeting people who are actually highly skilled, people who have college degrees, are computer trained and are tech savvy, he said.

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