There is more than one victim of scamming

Steve Baird, CEO of IJM Australia

I was recently contacted by ING regarding a suspicious transaction on my account.

The call came from a domestic number and the person on the other end spoke in a British accent, asking me a standard series of questions as I logged into my account.

I couldn’t see anything unusual as I scrolled my transactions, but when I asked for specific details, the caller abruptly hung up.

Then it clicked. It was a scam.

Everyone has their own version of this story – a WhatsApp message or a text from someone claiming to be a relative or a friend, asking for money or personal information.

In fact, 13.2 million Australians were exposed to scams in 2021-22.

Last year, Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to scams – an 80 per cent increase of total losses on 2021.

It’s a concerning trend, yet most Australians remain unaware that on the other side of that screen is someone who may be a victim of a scam themselves.

Tragically, the pandemic turbocharged the trafficking of people into sophisticated scam operations across Southeast Asia.?

In uncertain economic conditions, vulnerable people seeking good jobs in customer service are being lured with fake job ads on social media.

When workers arrive on their first day, their passports are often taken and they realise they’ve become ensnared in an elaborate scamming operation.

Victims are held against their will in large compounds and forced to scam for 12 to 20 hours a day, six days a week, to hit daily targets of around $550 AUD.

Jeevan, a survivor that IJM assisted, shared that he was punished, starved and locked in a dark room for not meeting his target.

Today, there are hundreds of thousands of people from over 35 countries working in scamming compounds in Southeast Asia, an industry rife with reports of human trafficking and violent abuse.

In Cambodia alone, the workforce in this industry probably exceeds 100,000 people, and they’re generating a lot of money.

The Cambodian scamming industry likely generates $18 billion per year – more than half of that country’s GDP.

IJM Australia is currently running an awareness campaign about forced scamming, which kicked off with the above billboard at Wynyard Station in Sydney.

Vulnerable people in Southeast Asia must also be made aware of this trend to prevent them falling prey to human traffickers.

This issue is crying out for leadership, and Australia is poised to be that leader.

The technological advancements fuelling forced scamming are currently outpacing our ability to respond.

That’s why stronger international collaboration is urgently needed across our region to tackle this problem.

The Australian Government must make forced scamming a priority issue in anti-trafficking dialogues with our Southeast Asian neighbours, leading the conversation on forced scamming at every level of government.

We must play our part to stop these ‘ING’ scams – for the sake of the Australians being fleeced and those being forced to scam us.

Give and support IJM's efforts to end forced scamming today. Visit https://ijm.au/48xsLLU