5 h. ago Moroccan court sentences man accused of trafficking people to scam compound in Asia

A Moroccan court has sentenced a man to five years in prison in the country’s first ruling against someone accused of luring people to work in a scam compound in Asia

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5 d. ago The death toll from a massive police raid in Rio de Janeiro rises to 121

A massive police raid targeting a drug-trafficking gang in Rio de Janeiro has left at least 121 people dead

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7 d. ago Brazil: at least 60 reported killed in Rio’s worst day of violence amid police favela raids

Governor says city ‘at war’ after gunfights between troops and Red Command drug traffickers who reportedly used weaponised dronesAt least 60 people have reportedly been killed in Rio’s worst-ever day of violence as more than 2,500 officers and special forces stormed an area of favelas near Rio’s international airport that is considered the headquarters of one of Brazil’s most powerful organised crime groups.The predawn raid sparked intense gunfights in and around Alemão and Penha favelas, which are home to an estimated 300,000 people. Continue reading...

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7 d. ago Paisley thug who stole Good Samaritan's mobile phone after faking call is jailed

Sheriff Thomas McCartney told the accused there was no alternative to a custodial sentence.

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1 week ago French biathlon star Julia Simon found guilty of theft and credit card fraud

Simon handed three-month suspended sentence and fineOlympic medallist admitted using teammate’s bank cardThe French biathlete Julia Simon was found guilty of theft and credit card fraud and handed a three-month suspended prison sentence by a French court on Friday.Simon was accused of repeatedly using the bank card of her France teammate, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, and that of a French team staff member to make online purchases totalling more than €2,000 (£1,371). Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Thousands detained as Myanmar military raids notorious KK park scam compound

Myanmar's military moved in to tackle a major online scam operation near the Thailand border, state media reportedMyanmar’s military has raided a major online scam operation near the border with Thailand, detaining more than 2,000 people and seizing dozens of Starlink satellite internet terminals, state media has reported.According to a report in Monday’s Myanma Alinn newspaper, Myanmar’s army raided KK Park, a well-documented cybercrime centre, as part of operations starting in early September to suppress online fraud, illegal gambling, and cross-border cybercrime. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Who are Chen Zhi and the Prince Group, accused by the US and UK of large

US treasury department has sanctioned Chinese-born Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi – alleged mastermind of a cyber-crime empire in south-east AsiaThe UK and the United States have sanctioned a multinational network based in south-east Asia accused of running large-scale online scam operations that are suspected of using trafficked workers to defraud people around the world.The industry has flourished in recent years, especially in parts of Cambodia and Myanmar where hundreds of thousands of people have been duped by false job adverts and then forced to commit online fraud, including through romance scams, sometimes under the threat of torture. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago US strikes another suspected drug boat boat in Caribbean, this time leaving survivors: reports

At least 27 people have been killed in U.S. strikes against alleged trafficking boats so far

Events

2 w. ago British teenager is rescued after getting lost in Thai jungle for two weeks and 'eating insects and tree bark to survive' after trying to cross into Myanmar

It was originally feared that Lawrence Stallard Honour, 19, was lured into a scam compound, after he went missing on September 27

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3 w. ago The Guardian view on the online scam industry: authorities must not forget that perpetrators are often victims too | Editorial

A lucrative sector is spreading fast as criminal enterprises force abused and trafficked workers to cheat othersA Chinese court last month sentenced 11 people to death over their roles in a illegal scam empire along the border with Myanmar. But it won’t end a noxious multibillion-dollar industry that devastates the lives of two sets of victims. The first are those cheated out of money, often by people posing as potential romantic or business partners in what are known as “pig‑butchering” schemes. The second are those who are forced to cheat them, working in conditions amounting to modern slavery.The recent study, Scam: Inside Southeast Asia’s Cybercrime Compounds, by Ivan Franceschini, Ling Li and Mark Bo, paints a terrifying picture of the sector. Workers are trafficked into heavily guarded, prison-like compounds, where they are routinely abused and tortured for failing to meet targets, or extorted for ransoms. Others take the jobs willingly, but find that they cannot repay ru...

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3 w. ago Were their body parts used in satanic rituals? Netflix tackles the horrific ‘Monster of Florence’ murders

It was a brutal killing spree that gripped Italy – yet so little is still known. Why were lovers murdered in their cars? Why were their sexual organs often targeted? Author Tobias Jones sifts the evidenceSome criminal cases are so vast that even the number of victims is uncertain: in the case of the unsolved “Monster of Florence” crimes that have gripped Italy for half a century, it is known that seven couples were murdered. But some say it’s eight, and at least another 16 murders have been connected to the case. The number of suspects almost matches that of the victims. First there was the pista sarda, the Sardinian line of enquiry into the swinging, pimping Vinci brothers who probably had a hand in the “first” murder in 1968. In the 1990s, a rapist, Pietro Pacciani, was convicted and then cleared. In 2000, Pacciani’s co-accused, Mario Vanni and Giancarlo Lotti, were sentenced to life and 28 years respectively for the murders committed between 1981 and 1985.Gianluca Monastra, autho...

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