Alleged victims of scam centres boarding a boat to cross the river on the Myanmar-Thai border to be met by Thai Army soldiers as they are repatriated from Kyauk Khet in Myanmar's Myawaddy township on Feb 12, 2025. - AFP
PHOP PHRA, Thailand: At a scam compound in Myanmar, Filipina worker Pieta had just days to romance strangers online and trick them into investing in a fake business -- failing which she would be beaten or tortured with electric shocks.
Pieta was one of 260 people -- many visibly injured or bruised -- rescued from an illicit centre along the Myanmar border this week and handed over to Thailand, following a series of crackdowns on the illegal operations.
