Hooked by Hope: Social Media as a Scam-Worker Recruitment Tool

This research investigates how transnational criminal networks use social media to recruit people into forced labour for cyber scam operations. It focuses on the Myanmar–Thailand border region. Based on interviews with investigative journalists and survivors, as well as surveys and digital content analysis, the study exposes deceptive recruitment tactics on platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

Criminals target vulnerable people—mostly from poorer countries in Asia and Africa—using false job ads and emotional appeals. Once inside scam compounds, recruits face harsh conditions, psychological abuse, and severe punishment for poor performance. The study also shows how local government collusion, weak digital oversight, and broader geopolitical factors allow these operations to persist.

To counter these abuses, the authors call for stronger platform accountability, cross-border policy action, and survivor-informed prevention and recovery programs.

Watch a video on more of our research on Myanmar’s scam sector:

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This study is part of the Myanmar Digital Research series published by Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) with support from International Development Research Centre and The SecDev Foundation.