In March, an invitation to teach Chinese cooking at a restaurant led him into a network of online scammers in Myanmar. Instead of teaching cooking, he was asked to lure Chinese people into “burning” their savings in fake investment schemes via social media platforms.

Zhang is one of tens of thousands of people, most but not all Chinese, who have been trapped in cyber fraud networks run by powerful Chinese crime syndicates in Southeast Asia.

Regional and Chinese authorities have rounded up thousands in a crackdown, but experts say they cannot eradicate it and criminal networks are certain to continue plotting.

When scams are stopped in one place, they often reappear elsewhere. The problem has left Chinese authorities puzzled, warning people traveling to Southeast Asia that they could be tricked or kidnapped and drawn into an online scam.

In recent years, the media has uncovered many cases of young people being lured to Cambodia or Myanmar for high-paying jobs, only to be forced into fraudulent work. Rescue groups say people are often beaten or subjected to physical punishment.

In August, China, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar agreed to set up a joint police operations center to tackle cyber fraud in the region. On October 10, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that its “Summer Operation” had successfully brought 2,317 fraud suspects back to China from Myanmar.

China calls such people suspects, although experts say most of them are victims forced to work for criminals.

The “centipedes” based in countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are run by Chinese bosses alongside local elites.

Myanmar’s border regions have long been a magnet for crime due to lax law enforcement. Such areas are often controlled by ethnic armed groups. Some collaborate with organized crime gangs.

Overall, the enforcement action appears to be less than comprehensive, experts say. Groups now based in Myanmar were originally based in Cambodia. When Cambodia cracked down on illegal online gambling and casinos in 2019, many groups moved to less regulated parts of Myanmar. Some were taken over by rival gangs.

Mai Van (according to AP, Xinhua News Agency)