In a recent recommendation, the FBI cautioned of the risks involved with fraudulent job advertisements in Southeast Asia, particularly those related to labor trafficking, in which individuals are forced to participate in international bitcoin investment schemes against their will.
Prison organizations have been using social media platforms and online employment portals to post deceptive job advertisements for occupations ranging from tech support to call center customer service to salon professionals. Advertisements offer competitive pay, exciting benefits, and paid travel and accommodation. Nonetheless, when job searchers travel abroad, they find themselves in a nightmarish situation.
Victims are imprisoned, intimidated, and forced to participate in Bitcoin investment scams as a result of various coercive techniques used by criminals. These tactics might include the removal of passports and travel documents, threats of assault, and even physical violence.
Using travel and housing costs as an excuse, traffickers shift the burden onto their victims, using rising debt and fear of local law authorities as an additional method of control. Some trafficked persons were also offered and relocated between other compounds, aggravating their debt and dangerous situation.
When victims become involved in exploitative networks, their liberties are restricted and their private and monetary autonomy is gradually lost. The crooks behind these scams dupe victims into participating in Bitcoin fundraising frauds in order to profit from them.