Scam : Inside Southeast Asia's Cybercrime Compounds

Author: Franceschini, Ivan

South East Asia

Published on 8 July 2025 by Verso Books in the United Kingdom.

Paperback / softback | 224 pages
233 x 153 x 16 | 256g

Running the gamut from the infamous 'pig butchering' romance con to sophisticated online extortion and investment fraud, Southeast Asia has emerged as the global hub for cybercrime. Based on years of field research, Scam takes an in-depth look at the history and inner dynamics of the region's online scam industry. Revealed are the appalling working conditions - akin to modern slavery - in the hundreds of prisonlike compounds that have mushroomed throughout multiple countries. The result is a shocking exposé of victims forced to be perpetrators, a tragic modern tale.