UN warns that hundreds of thousands in South-East Asia have been roped into online scams

Police walks inside one of the offices they raided in Las Pinas, Philippines, on June 27, 2023. The UN human rights office says criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in South-East Asia into participating in unlawful online scam operations, including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches, and illegal gambling schemes. — Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group via AP, File

GENEVA: The UN human rights office says criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in South-East Asia into participating in unlawful online scam operations, including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a new report, cites “credible sources” that at least 120,000 people in strife-torn Myanmar and roughly 100,000 in Cambodia “may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams.”