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https://www.npr.org/2024/08/08/nx-s1-5058798/how-criminal-syndicates-traffic-torture-and-enslave-people-to-send-scam-text-messages
https://web.archive.org/web/20240809114617/https://www.npr.org/2024/08/08/nx-s1-5058798/how-criminal-syndicates-traffic-torture-and-enslave-people-to-send-scam-text-messagesHere’s a good documentary on what’s going on:
Behind Asia’s cyber slavery | DW Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti7YDegRMYEFrom the looks of it, the best chance you have to escape is before they get you to the river. So if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re travelling for a job in one of these countries, be aware of the signs, and escape before it’s too late.
So, if you get picked up from the airport and you’re supposed to go to a hotel only 10 min away, but that turns into a drive for a few hours, do whatever you can to get out. Anywhere is better than the destination at the end of that drive.
This is heartbreaking, but in a backwards way it makes me feel a little better about getting these kinds of texts. Now, instead of automatically getting pissed off that some rando is trying to scam me, I’ll feel sympathy knowing that the person sending the texts is more likely a victim themselves. There’s still very little I can personally do about it, but at least now we know, that in some instances like this, someone doing something shitty might only be doing it because they’ve been forced. That makes a difference (selfishly at least), but this whole situation is still just awful.