Thread: Taiwanese victim of Myanmar scam compound recalls harrowing experience

Taiwanese street performer Hsieh Yueh-peng came across a job posting on a Facebook group offering a gig in Thailand.


It was not particularly attractive – the NT$35,000 (US$1,200) in pay was comparable to what Hsieh would have earned in Taiwan.

But it would give the 27-year-old a chance to travel.


The recruiting process was similar to his other gigs and since nothing felt amiss, Hsieh packed his bags for the short trip.

The first sign of trouble came in Thailand when the car carrying Hsieh took an unusually long journey. It then crossed into Myanmar.

"I had a bad feeling. But by then I realised that even if I had wanted to turn back, it was too late. Armed men surrounded us during the ride to the compound,” he told CNA.


Hsieh was taken to one of the many scam facilities near the border with Thailand.


"Because I made it clear I didn't want to work or stay... they locked me in a small dark room. I was restrained by seven or eight soldiers," Hsieh recalled. He was then beaten.


"They said if I tried to leave, the soldiers would kill me. They told me there were landmines along the compound's perimeters and all the soldiers carried guns."


The scam centre set quotas for the workers to meet – hitting their targets meant food and money.


"It was commission-based. For example, if I scammed someone of US$20,000, I could earn 9 per cent. I saw people’s lockers and they were full of Chinese yuan and Thai baht,” Hsieh said.


"I chatted with victims but I tried to end the conversations quickly because I really didn't want to scam anyone."


He attempted to escape twice but was unsuccessful.

Along with fellow victims, they tried to sneak out of the compound on New Year’s Eve, hoping that the guards would be drunk. But they were caught and punished with beatings and put in isolation. There were also threats of being sold off to a worse compound.

Throughout his 20-day captivity, he tried slipping intel to friends back home, alerting them of his ordeal and begging them for help.


One day, the so-called “boss” of the compound told him somebody had paid his ransom, and that he was free to leave.


To this day, he has no idea why or how he was rescued. He said: “None of my friends or family said they paid anything.”


He was driven to the Thai border and then to Bangkok, where he was met by a Taiwanese liaison officer who put him on a flight back home.


MORE TAIWANESE STILL TRAPPED


Hsieh was one of the lucky victims who managed to escape.


But there are about 300 Taiwanese still trapped in scam compounds abroad, according to Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).


The national investigative agency said most victims were lured through social media or by friends, with job offers that turned into traps.

"Since 2020, approximately 1,000 to 1,050 Taiwanese have reported being lured overseas and coerced into engaging in fraudulent activities,” said Edward Lee, director of the CIB’s international criminal affairs division.

He added that CIB has already assisted in the return of around 600 individuals – including Hsieh – through coordination with various agencies.


The Taiwanese government has been ramping up rescue efforts, working with police liaisons and local authorities.


The CIB said Hsieh was able to leave the compound mainly with the help of its liaison officers, who negotiated with authorities in Thailand.


But in Cambodia, another location where scam operations are rife and where diplomatic relations are lacking, Lee said officers work with non-governmental organisations and Taiwanese business associations based there to facilitate rescues.


NOT ALL ARE VICTIMS


After rescue, authorities are mandated by law to carry out further investigations because not everyone in a scam compound is a victim.


“By examining their interactions with others and travel records, supplementing that with other information we receive, we distinguish between innocent victims and those who knowingly participated in scams,” said Lee.


On Wednesday (May 7), 55 Taiwanese scam compound workers were repatriated from Thailand. Among them, 25 were wanted by authorities in connection to cases involving theft, fraud, drugs and money laundering, according to the CIB.


Crime syndicates used to run phone scams out of Taiwan. Even today, the island remains a crucial node in such global crime networks, partly because there are still scam syndicates operating out of Taiwan or by Taiwanese overseas.


While most operations have gone offshore to countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines, Taiwan's authorities continue to use the experience it has gained over the years to assist in the global fight against cyber fraud.


Chang Jung-Hsin, chief of Taiwan’s top law enforcement agency, said there has been some measurable success.


In 2024, about 600 cases of fraud were reported daily with a loss of between NT$400 million and NT$600 million.


"After we moved to combat fraud and with cooperation between the government agencies and civilian organisations… the number of fraud cases fell,” said Chang, the director general of Taiwan’s National Police Agency.


This January, daily cases dropped to around 400 cases with the total loss that month down to NT9.5 billion – an average of NT300 million a day.

As for Hsieh, he is still haunted by nightmares three months after his rescue. His wrists still suffer from numbness from being shackled at the scam centre for days on end.


But he is back on the streets of Taipei, performing acrobatic stunts. As part of his performance, he now tells the audience about his ordeal in Myanmar, hoping to warn more people about falling prey to scams.


"(I’m) really happy to escape that hell. I never have to be subjected to that inhumane treatment again,” he told CNA.


“If I had noticed signs and red flags, I would have halted the work schedule and left (Thailand), even if it meant missing out on a job.”

Taiwanese victim of Myanmar scam compound recalls harrowing experience - CNA