A cybercrime epidemic known as pig butchering has stolen billions from victims worldwide, exploiting vulnerabilities heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic. These schemes, involving fake investment platforms and emotional manipulation, have been linked to human trafficking networks in Southeast Asia. Central to the allegations is Wan Kuok-koi, or “Broken Tooth,” a former Macau gangster and reputed figure behind scam operations, as reported by WSJ. Despite his links to organised crime, Wan remains free, highlighting global enforcement failures.
How Pig-Butchering Scams Operate Pig-butchering scams derive their name from the analogy of “fattening” victims through trust-building before “butchering” them financially. Scammers pose as potential friends or romantic partners on social media, convincing targets to invest in bogus cryptocurrency platforms.
Victims often lose vast sums. In one example, a Kansas banker embezzled $47.1 million from his bank to cover his losses. According to a study by finance professor John Griffin, over four years, criminal networks moved more than $75 billion through cryptocurrency exchanges, with Tether being the most used stablecoin.
“These are large criminal organised networks, and they’re operating largely unscathed,” Griffin said.
Wan Kuok-koi: From Mafia to Alleged Cybercrime Wan Kuok-koi, nicknamed “Broken Tooth” after a motorcycle accident in his youth, rose to prominence in the 1990s as a leader of Macau’s 14K Triad. After serving 14 years in prison for organised crime and money laundering, he re-emerged as a businessman.
In 2018, Wan established the Hongmen association in Cambodia, promoting itself as a cultural organisation but allegedly linked to cybercrime operations. The group’s activities expanded into Myanmar with the establishment of the Dongmei Zone, a site investigators say became one of the earliest scam compounds.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2020, Wan appeared alongside militia members, cementing the zone’s association with illicit activities. A subsequent U.S. Treasury sanction described the Dongmei Zone as a hub for human trafficking and cyber scams.
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Investigators report that thousands of people, lured by false promises of legitimate work, have been trafficked into scam compounds like Dongmei. Victims are forced to surrender their passports, create fake social media profiles, and engage in scamming under constant surveillance.
Lu Yihao, a Chinese man trafficked to Dongmei and enslaved for seven months, recounted his ordeal: “As far as I could tell, from my personal experience, Dongmei was specifically built for criminal purposes.”
The United Nations estimates over 200,000 individuals are trapped in s
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