The Pig Butchering Invasion Has Begun

More than 200,000 people in Southeast Asia have been forced to run online scams in recent years, often being enslaved and brutalized, as part of criminal enterprises that have netted billions in stolen funds. Such “pig butchering” operations have largely been concentrated in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, typically rooted in Chinese organized crime groups exploiting instability and poor governance in the region. Though they come at great humanitarian cost, pig butchering scams are undeniably lucrative and, perhaps inevitably, similar operations are now being uncovered on multiple continents and in numerous...