Age of the scam state': how an illicit, multi-billion dollar industry has taken root in south-east Asia

"For days before the explosions began, the business park had been emptying out. When the bombs went off, they took down empty office blocks and demolished echoing, multi-cuisine food halls. Dynamite toppled a four-storey hospital, silent karaoke complexes, deserted gyms and dorm rooms. So came the end of KK Park, one of south-east Asia's most infamous scam centres, press releases from Myanmar's junta declared. The facility had held tens of thousands of people, forced to relentlessly defraud people around the world."

"But the park's operators were long gone: apparently tipped off that a crackdown was coming, they were busily setting up shop elsewhere. More than 1,000 labourers had managed to flee across the border, and some 2,000 others had been detained. But up to 20,000 labourers, likely trafficked and brutalised, had disappeared. Away from the junta's cameras, scam centres like KK park have continued to thrive."

"So monolithic has the multi-billion dollar global scam industry become that experts say we are entering the era of the scam state. Like the narco-state, the term refers to countries where an illicit industry has dug its tentacles deep into legitimate institutions, reshaping the economy, corrupting governments and establishing state reliance on an illegal network."

KK Park operated as a major scam complex housing tens of thousands compelled to defraud people globally. Explosions demolished empty offices, food halls, a four-storey hospital, karaoke complexes, gyms and dormitories. Operators evacuated before the crackdown and re-established operations elsewhere, while over 1,000 labourers fled, about 2,000 were detained, and up to 20,000 disappeared, many likely trafficked and brutalised. Raids across the region are often performative, targeting middling actors while preserving a highly profitable sector. The global scam industry has become multi-billion-dollar and deeply embedded in legitimate institutions, reshaping economies and creating state reliance on illicit networks.

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