A daring escape from a Philippine scam compound exposes the global system of digital fraud built on torture, corruption and modern slavery
In a joint investigation for Danish newspapers Jyllands-Posten and Politiken, journalists Thomas Foght and Sebastian Stryhn Kjeldtoft, expose the brutal machinery behind one of the world’s fastest-growing crimes: digital fraud sustained by modern slavery. The first of their reports centres on a scam compound in Bamban, a small town in the Philippines, where hundreds of trafficked workers were forced to swindle victims across the globe.
The story begins with “Danny,” a 31-year-old Vietnamese man who had been lured to the Philippines with promises of legitimate work as a chef. Instead, he found himself imprisoned inside a heavily guarded scam centre run by Chinese criminal gangs. For a month, he and hundreds of others were coerced into working long hours at computers, posing online as romantic partners, investment advisers or trusted officials. Their task was to manipulate victims into handing over money through dating scams, fake cryptocurrency schemes and other elaborate frauds. The gangsters chillingly referred to the process as “pig slaughter”: cultivate trust and affection, then drain bank accounts slice by slice.
Danny’s escape was desperate and precarious. Exploiting a lapse in guard patrols, he climbed a wall, tore through barbed wire and fled into the night. Running through woods and along a river to hide his tracks, he reached a farm owned by a Filipino-American retired US Air Force officer. Others who had attempted escape before him had reportedly been returned by corrupt police. This time, the farmer sheltered him and connected him with a priest, who in turn contacted the Philippine government’s anti-cybercrime task force, PAOCC.
Winston Casio, a senior officer with PAOCC, led the rescue. The operation nearly collapsed when another armed police chief arrived, allegedly carrying authorisation to shoot Danny if necessary. Casio succeeded in extracting the witness just before the situation escalated, later securing a search warrant based on his testimony. That testimony made Danny the key witness in a case that would shock the Philippines and reverberate across East Asia.
When authorities raided the Bamban compound, they discovered 680 enslaved workers from more than 20 countries. Many had been recruited via social media with promises of high-paying jobs. Instead, their passports were confiscated, and they were forced to commit fraud under threat of torture or death. Survivors described brutal punishments for underperformance or resistance. According to investigators, some victims who died were dismembered and disposed of in Manila.
The compound itself was staggering in scale, the journalists report. It towered over Bamban’s modest homes and had fuelled a local economic boom. Locals helped construct mansions for the gang leaders and found work in what they believed was an online casino operation. Inside were lavish residences with gold furnishings, a wine cellar worth millions, an Olympic-sized pool, and luxury vehicles. Just beyond the compound walls stood the mayor’s office.
The scandal deepened when evidence linked the town’s mayor, Alice Guo, to the property. She was later arrested in Indonesia, extradited, and sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking. Courts determined she had falsified her Filipino identity and was in fact from China, prompting further political and intelligence concerns.
The investigation also reveals the global dimension of cyber slavery. According to Danish authorities, cybercrime victims in Denmark alone increased by nearly 100,000 in one year. Yet the crimes often involve small sums and cross-border networks, making prosecution difficult. Scam centres have proliferated not only in Southeast Asia but increasingly in Africa, South America and Europe, often operating in collusion with corrupt officials.
Following the Bamban raid, the Philippines deported 100 Chinese suspects back to Shanghai in cooperation with Chinese authorities. Whether they were trafficked victims or willing perpetrators remains unclear, but in China they are presumed criminals until proven otherwise.
[If you found this article interesting, might also find interesting ‘The rescue that never came’, in Translator magazine issue #1, translated from Initium Media, about cyber-scam compounds in Cambodia]
The original article by Thomas Foght and Sebastian Stryhn Kjeldtoft, ‘Tusindvis af mennesker blev holdt som slaver på svindelcentret i Bamban. Kom med Politiken og Jyllands-Posten tilbage til gerningsstedet,’ was published in Danish on 21 December 2025 on Politiken.
It available here.
Politiken and Jyllands-Posten are Danish newspapers. Both are published by the media group, JP/Politikens Hus A/S.
Summary by ZN
