“Casinos and shell companies operating in unused hotels and other rented and bespoke commercial spaces have become hotspots for this growing criminal activity,” it says. The report cites the proliferation of cyber scamming and human trafficking in Southeast Asia in particular, often with links to Chinese owners. “Judicial authorities should prioritise the investigation, prosecution, conviction, sentencing, and incarceration of recruiters, brokers, and casino owners and operators knowingly perpetrating forced criminality in online cyber scam operations,” the report says. The US Department of State’s 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report released this month has placed greater emphasis on growing cyber scam operations and the enslavement of largely imported workers that staff them. The US government has called on mostly Asian governments to “prioritise” crackdowns on casino operators and others linked to cyber scamming and human trafficking operations.
