Days after at least 24 Chinese nationals were repatriated from Myanmar to China as part of the crackdown on cross-border telephone and online scam syndicate, Indonesia on August 30 arrested 88 Chinese nationals who were allegedly involved in tricking fellow Chinese citizens into transferring money by manipulating their human emotions.

Increasing number of Southeast Asian nations, especially those which are situated in the close proximity of China, are witnessing a growth in online crime committed by Chinese nationals on their soil.

Countries like Laos, the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia are struggling to cope up with the surge in online crime committed by Chinese nationals.

Without taking China’s name, the United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights recently said criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into participating in online scams.

As per the UN body’s estimate, at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and roughly 100,000 in Cambodia could be in a situation where they are forced to carry out cyber fraud.

But it is in Indonesia where police are finding it a bit challenging to root out crime perpetuated through the internet by Chinese citizens who enter into the country using tourist visas and commit crime, said ABC News quoting Indonesian police.

On August 30, following a tip from the Ministry of Public Security, Indonesian police arrested 88 Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in a crossborder telephone and online romance scam, South China Morning Post said.

To perpetuate their online romance scam, criminals, as per the Hong Kong-based daily, first of all try to identify their victims through dating sites or social media.

Once they identify their victims, they create their fake profiles and after this process is over, they start wooing their victims by building affection and trust until they see an opportunity to ask for money.

Demand for money from victims usually revolves around two or three excuses like lack money for a medical emergency or do not have money to visit a sick mother etc.

If media reports are to be believed, this is not a standalone incident involving Chinese nationals and their subsequent arrest and repatriation to China.

In 2019, police took in custody 85 Chinese citizens for their involvement in similar crime in Indonesia and in 2017 as many as 419 Chinese nationals were apprehended for their involvement in a telephone fraud and online investment scam syndicate.

Thai authorities have recently launched a massive crackdown on cyber frauds and online scammers across the country as telephone and cyber-related crimes involving Chinese nationals have increased. Since 2021, scam calls in Thailand increased by 270%, Bangkok Post said.

Interestingly, all of them had entered Indonesia on three-month tourist visas as such, as per the Hong Kong-based daily, they were repatriated to face charges in China after spending two months in Indonesian jails and being fined $770 for violating their tourist visas.

A close examination of Chinese nationals’ involvement in online scam reveals that most of their victims happen to be fellow Chinese citizens as scammers do not know other languages than Mandarin.

This phenomenon is also seen among Chinese scammers in Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand.

On August 28-29, officials of China and Myanmar held a meeting in Beijing and agreed to cooperate with each other in cracking down on cross border telecom fraud, maintaining “clear and stable border lines…safeguarding peace and tranquillity in border areas,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The meeting took place just a few days after Myanmar, which shares an over 2,200km border with China, repatriated 24 suspects to China as part of its crackdown on gangs involved in online fraud.

But in Myanmar, not all Chinese nationals have been found to be involved in cyber scam on their own will, instead a majority of them inadvertently slipped into the crime under “false promises of high paying jobs”, Chinese embassy in Myanmar said in a statement.

Shawe Koko, a newly built town in Myanmar’s Karen state that borders Thailand, is considered as a hub of cybercrime.

According to VOA, Shawe Koko is controlled by Chinese criminal syndicates in partnership with the Border Guard Force, a Karen ethnic minority militia under Myanmar military control.

Since the larger aim of criminal syndicates remain in maximizing their benefits, they operate different modes of cyber-related crime.

For example, Chinese scammers operating from Myanmar introduce some kind of investment schemes, and lure victims into investing in these schemes by creating an impression that they are yielding larger returns.

Once scammers realise that victims have committed all of their financial resources, the scammers disappear with the money, harming victims financially and psychologically, the Washington DC-based United State Institute of Peace said.

Rampant online fraud involving Chinese youth has found its depiction in Chinese action film No More Bets. Released on August 8, it has already earned more than 3 billion yuan ($41.4 million).

In the early days of May this year, more than 1000 Chinese nationals from Hong Kong as well as mainland China were rescued by Indonesian and Philippines authorities in a swift and concerted action against criminals engaged in cyberrelated fraud, said South China Morning Post.

As per media reports since China has tightened laws against gambling, money laundering, pornography and other cyber-related crimes, syndicates who once operated from posh areas in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and other Chinese cities, shifted their base to neighbouring Southeast Asian countries to escape closer scrutiny of their activities by authorities.

Thai authorities have recently launched a massive crackdown on cyber frauds and online scammers across the country as telephone and cyber-related crimes involving Chinese nationals have increased. Since 2021, scam calls in Thailand increased by 270%, Bangkok Post said.

Quoting senior Thai police officials, the English language daily published from Bangkok in its recent report said that of the total 50,000 complaints received by police till July, around half of them belonged to cyber-related frauds.

“The number of scammers at work in our region is now believed to be in the tens of thousands,” Pol Gen SurachateHakparn, Deputy National Police Chief was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying. Between January and May 2023, hundreds of people in Thailand were swindled by Chinese online scammers, costing around 500 million baht in damages, Thaiger, a news outlet operating from Bangkok said.

Following widespread outrage on social media and international outcry against mounting cyber frauds perpetrated by outlawed Chinese nationals from across Southeast Asian nations, Beijing has in recent weeks activated its actions to tame high incidence of crimes.

Last month, Chinese authorities in coordination with their counterparts from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar vowed to crackdown on scams and “resolutely reverse the high incidence of crimes,” South China Morning Post said.

Rampant online fraud involving Chinese youth has found its depiction in Chinese action film No More Bets. Released on August 8, it has already earned more than 3 billion yuan ($41.4 million).

In substance, it also speaks volumes of concern among local people about cyber scams and their ill effects on Chinese society.