A job advertisement tempted Mr. Fisher, a 27-year-old Ethiopian electrical engineering graduate, with the promise of a lucrative salary in a modern city. Drawn by this opportunity, he convinced his father to sell their family’s farmland, a legacy of mangoes, avocados, and the ancient grain teff. This decision led to an 8-hour car ride to what he believed was a cutting-edge computer hub in Thailand. However, upon reaching his destination, Mr. Fisher found himself taken to a riverbank and then into Myanmar, a country fragmented and war-torn, serving as the epicenter of an illicit cyber fraud industry dominated by Chinese syndicates. Exhausted from his journey, he was directed into a white tower block where he was to begin a new, unwelcome career as a scammer, among other Ethiopians and a few individuals from Laos.

Resisting his new role, Mr. Fisher’s defiance earned him a harrowing stint in a torture chamber. He recounted being confined in a crucifixion pose and subjected to torment, experiences shared by witnesses and other victims. Eventually, broken by his ordeal, he succumbed to his captors’ demands, engaging in fraudulent activities on TikTok aimed at targets in several countries. Promised a $2,000 monthly salary, he found himself unable to meet the quota—$10,000 in successful scams. Failure brought further suffering: electric shocks, forced frog jumps, and push-ups under the weight of his Chinese overseers. Mr. Fisher described his existence within the compound as consisting solely of scamming and sleeping, through 18-hour shifts, fed minimally on rice with rare exceptions. The camp was thoroughly Chinese, down to the Beijing-time clocks and red lanterns, illustrating the scale of their operations. After eight long months of captivity, Mr. Fisher was finally rescued in February, along with thousands of others from the scam mill. He is currently housed in a military camp in Thailand, awaiting a repatriation that fills him with dread, as he has no means to provide for his family back home. Mr. Fisher’s story reflects a broader issue of human trafficking into criminal endeavors, a grim reality confronting many across the globe.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/world/asia/scam-center-torture-abuse.html