Who are the workers behind the global scam industry? In Cambodia, more than 200,000 scam workers have been released from fortified compounds, where many of them had been trafficked, held against their will, and forced to work for little pay. The Cambodian government’s recent crackdown has enabled reporters to get a closer look at an industry responsible for defrauding Americans of at least 20 billion dollars in 2025.But how did these workers end up in Cambodia, and what was the promise that drew them there? In this two-part series for The Sunday Story, investigative reporter Shibani Mahtani dives into the previously hidden world of the global scam industry. And she follows the story of one Ugandan man, who traveled far from home for a job that was “too good to be true.” Listen to Part 2 here.
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Glenn Harvey for NPR
Who are the workers behind the global scam industry?
In Cambodia, more than 200,000 scam workers have been released from fortified compounds, where many of them had been trafficked, held against their will, and forced to work for little pay. The Cambodian government's recent crackdown has enabled reporters to get a closer look at an industry responsible for defrauding Americans of at least 20 billion dollars in 2025.
But how did these workers end up in Cambodia, and what was the promise that drew them there? In this two-part series for The Sunday Story, investigative reporter Shibani Mahtani dives into the previously hidden world of the global scam industry. And she follows the story of one Ugandan man, who traveled far from home for a job that was "too good to be true."
Listen to Part 2 here.
This episode of The Sunday Story was produced by Justine Yan and edited by Jenny Schmidt. Audio engineering by Jimmy Keeley.
We'd love to hear from you. Send us an email at TheSundayStory@npr.org.
| # | Наименование новости | Тональность | Информативность | Дата публикации |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caught in Cambodia’s Scam Machine: Part 2 | 0 | 7.13 | 21-06-2026 |
| 2 | The Human Egg Sellers | 0 | 7.3 | 08-03-2026 |
| 3 | Cambodian Authorities Investigating Scamming Sites Linked to Sanctioned Tycoons, Senior Official Says | 0 | 11.72 | 25-09-2026 |
| 4 | The human cost of building the Dubai of Africa | 0 | 6.7 | 17-05-2026 |
| 5 | Cambodian Government Grants Journalists Access to Giant Former Scamming Compound | 0 | 13.03 | 22-09-2026 |
| 6 | BRICS Summit in India, Amazon Air Plane Crash, Federal Film Tax Bill | 0 | 6.79 | 12-09-2026 |
| 7 | Infertility doctor secretly fathered dozens of children: how strangers became family | 0 | 8.36 | 19-07-2026 |
| 8 | Trump attacks DSA candidates as 'communists.' Will it stick? | 0 | 6.56 | 02-08-2026 |
| 9 | Trump AI Summit, US Pulls Out Of Iraq, SCOTUS Third Country Deportations | 0 | 6.7 | 30-09-2026 |
| 10 | Trump Rehashes Election Fraud Claims, Politics Of Trump's Speech, Texas Flooding | 0 | 7.37 | 17-07-2026 |