[Breaking News] Southeast Asia Is The 'GROUND ZERO' For Scam Centers

NOT to besmirch Southeast Asia as I live in this region BUT no less than the United Nations has tagged this region as the 'GROUND ZERO FOR SCAM CENTERS' and to share details published in multiple newswires, the so called 'epicenter is actually that triangulated countries of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes [UNODC], there has been a huge proliferation of illicit operations known as 'SCAM FARMS' and that has spilled over even to the Philippines WHERE they operate alongside legal gambling businesses💥💥💥

Datelined from PHNOM PENH yesterday, 06.16.2025:  PHNOM PENH: The Cambodian authorities have arrested more than 200 Vietnamese in internet scam centre raids, the police said on Wednesday (Jul 16), as Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered a crackdown on cybercrime sweatshops.  The police in the capital Phnom Penh said that they raided two buildings housing scammers on Monday and Tuesday, arresting 149 Vietnamese alongside three Chinese citizens and 85 Cambodians!@#$%?

In another breaking news just today, without mentioning the 6-star plush hotel in a Southeast Asian city located next to the legalized gambling casinos, a former senior ranking government official checked-in together with family for a staycation only to realize that all his account balances on his credit cards were gobbled up after he connected to the hotel's FREE W-FI services❎❎❎

As that former senior government official had his connections, it was immediately investigated and the culprits were traced to a 'SCAM FARM' being run and hosted by Chinese [this is an ongoing development now].  Lesson here:  DON'T DON'T DON'T connect to free WI-FI services if you plan to initiate banking OR financial transactions with your device connected to that FREE WI-FI😡😡😡

Our takeaway:  As SCAM FARMS seem to have proliferated across Southeast Asia [NOT to mention even in Eastern Europe], let us be doubly-triply security-conscious WHEN initiating financial/banking transactions because we are fighting off faceless predators WHO remain ruthless to siphon and gobble up every hard-earned monies you may have saved for the rainy days ahead.  BTW, one proactive measure I have consistently did is to 'LOCK' [by default] my banking/credit card accounts [YES, I can sleep soundly with that proactive measure].  True, the downside is that if you need to access your accounts, you need to initiate that eXtra step of 'UNLOCKING' BUT that fraction of inconvenience more than just mitigates the risk and exposure we're facing at hand.  To be FOREWARNED is to be FOREARMED!!!