“There are limitations to what we can see with this data, but what we have so far is accurate,” says Heintz. “If anything I think it’s undercounting the scale of the problem.”
The data the researchers obtained is only a snapshot of some alleged sextortion activity linked to scam centers. For instance, advertising industry mobile data is incomplete, the NCMEC data does not contain all possible reported sextortion cases, and tech companies reporting data to NCMEC likely skew towards American firms.
In its report, the IJM points to multiple reports of scam centers being linked to wider sextortion against adults. The report does not rule out that children are being deliberately targeted with sextortion crimes, but notes that children may also get caught in schemes targeted at adults if they are using parents’ or other caregivers’ devices. Now that this research has demonstrated a link, the researchers emphasize that further research is needed to strengthen authorities’ understanding of the connection between child sextortion and scam compounds and determine whether children are being specifically targeted. NCMEC did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Often run by Chinese organized crime groups, scam compounds have exploded across Southeast Asia since roughly 2019. Criminals have trafficked thousands of people, from more than 70 countries, into the compounds, where they are usually held captive, have their passports taken away, and are forced to scam people online. If they refuse, they can be beaten and brutalized. Initially targeting Chinese speakers, the scam centers have deployed so-called “pig butchering” scams, alongside various other forms of investment and romance scams. With vast flows of illicit cash, the criminals have increasingly opened scam compounds in the Middle East, West Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe; targeted scams against people across the world; and altered the ways they scam people.
“Scam centres and cyber-enabled fraud networks in Southeast Asia have rapidly diversified their business lines and scope of targeting, increasingly integrating sextortion as well as malware, deepfakes and pornography into their operations,” says John Wojcik, a senior threat researcher focussing on Asia at cybersecurity firm Infoblox. An October 2024 report into the growth of scam compounds from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which was partially authored by Wojcik who then worked at the organization, pointed to the increase in sextortion cases against adults and the use of AI.
Wojcik says the IJM research is consistent with reports from law enforcement agencies within Southeast Asia that there has been a “steady rise” in financial sextortion cases against children.
Hieu Minh Ngo, a reformed criminal hacker and now cybercrime investigator at Vietnamese non-profit scam fighting organization Chongluadao, says he has seen sextortion efforts targeting young people and adults in Vietnam in the last few years, and these “operations trace back to scam compounds” located along the Vietnam-Cambodia border. “The tactics are consistent: Bad actors pose as attractive individuals on social media, build trust with victims, then coerce them into sharing sensitive images or videos,” Ngo says. The use of AI deepfakes is also increasing, he adds. “This trend shows clear links between regional scam compounds and organized sextortion targeting children and vulnerable populations.”