[theme music playing] [David]<i> It's a new con
that's cheating Canadians</i> <i> out of millions.</i> I was stupid to get
into this kind of scam. Do you think you'll ever
recover financially? [Peter] No. [David]<i> Built on romance,</i> <i>friendship, and cryptocurrency.</i> [Dana] These scammers, they play on
the deepest human emotions. [David]<i> We go overseas
to uncover a shocking twist.</i> Some people have used
the term "cyber slave" to describe
what you were involved in. Were you ever worried
for your life? [John] For real. Absolutely. [David]<i>
This is your</i> Marketplace. [David]<i> We're burning
the midnight oil</i> <i> because we are in the middle
of what looks to be a scam.</i> Oh. She has sent
a couple selfies. This is the first one. [David]<i> A new type of fraud</i> <i> that can start with
a random message on social media</i> <i> from someone looking for
romance or friendship.</i> So she said this is a beach that she went to
over the weekend. [David]<i> My colleague, Katie,
is contacted out of the blue</i> <i> by a woman calling herself
Zhou Ya.</i> <i> The pictures she sends
could be fake,</i> <i> but the scam
she's setting up is very real.</i> So, a couple of weeks,
many, many messages, building this relationship. You're friends with her now. [chuckles] A little bit. [David]<i> Zhou Ya says
she lives in Singapore,</i> <i> 12 hours ahead of us,</i> <i> and along with shopping,</i> <i> likes to invest
in cryptocurrency.</i> "Many people are involved in it,
making profits every day." Are you saying you made
over $20,000 in 24 hours? That does not seem possible. [David]<i> Now she's offering
to help us make money too,</i> <i> and wants us to download
an app to get it going.</i> All right, shall we go for it? -Let's do it.
-All right. [David]<i> Our research tells us</i> <i> Zhou Ya is likely trying
to empty our bank account.</i> "So I downloaded the app." [David]<i>
Before the night is through,</i> <i> we'll be calling her up
and calling her out.</i> "Hey, good morning." -Mm-hmm.
-She's responding. <i> But our investigation
begins here,</i> <i> in Bangkok, Thailand,</i> <i> with a former scammer
we're calling "John."</i> <i> He's worried he might be
in danger by speaking out,</i> <i> so we've agreed
to hide his identity.</i> Did you ever feel bad for
the people you were scamming? [John] Karma.
It will come around to you. [David]<i>
John worked for criminals</i> <i> who would target
vulnerable people,</i> <i> including Canadians.</i> What were they asking you to do? [David]<i> They call it
"pig butchering."</i> <i> The goal:
gain the victim's trust,</i> <i> then steal their money.</i> [bell chiming] <i> It's exactly what happens
to Stephanie Lin of Edmonton.</i> Half million US dollar. [sobs] All my life saving. You attempted suicide. Yeah. I feel I loved
this person a lot, and I trusted him, and I put all my money
into the project that he wants me to do. And... I can't bear to lose him. [David]<i> For Stephanie, it starts
with a message on LinkedIn</i> <i> from a guy
using the name "Robin Murray."</i> I'm very cautious about these
social media things, right? So, if someone wanted
to be a friend or connection from Facebook or Instagram, I will say,
"What's their motive?" [David]<i> This seems like more
of a professional connection,</i> <i> though she does
find him attractive.</i> <i> What she doesn't know is
that his photos are stolen</i> <i> from someone's social media.</i> <i> They move their messaging
to WhatsApp</i> <i> and begin to connect.</i> <i> Stephanie is a retail manager
in a high-end store.</i> <i> Robin says he's a marketing
manager for a major airline.</i> <i> These early contacts
are exciting.</i> I had never had someone
call me "honey," "baby," that kind of stuff, right?
It's very sweet. I feel emotionally
attached with him. [David]<i> It's all part
of the pig butchering playbook,</i> <i> according to
our former scammer, John.</i> How would you convince
victims to invest? [John] [David]<i> It's known
as "fattening the pig."</i> <i> Scammers build trust,</i> <i>then encourage small investments
in cryptocurrency</i> <i> to make the victim think
they've made easy money.</i> So he asked me to invest, right? And I say that I don't believe
this kind of investment, because I heard
a lot of other story. And he said,
"You don't trust my love? Okay,
I'm very disappointed in you." -Blah, blah, blah.
-He's playing on your emotions. Yeah. [Robin speaking other language] [David]<i> Robin shares this video,</i> <i> claiming it's where
he and his colleagues</i> <i> make their millions</i> <i> with precisely-timed
transactions on crypto markets.</i> <i> Stephanie is soon
cashing in RRSPs,</i> <i> converting dollars to bitcoin
as instructed,</i> <i> watching her money grow
on crypto platforms</i> <i> that she has no idea are fake,</i> <i>set up and run by the scammers.</i> It looks, on this platform,
like you're making money. Yeah. At first I was at 890,000. He said, "Wow, honey, let's go. You're going to be
a millionaire." [David]<i> Former scammer John says</i> <i> victims are usually allowed
to withdraw a bit</i> <i>to encourage bigger investments.</i> [John] [David]<i> That's called
"the slaughter."</i> <i> Stephanie tries making
a bigger withdrawal,</i> <i> and her account
is suddenly frozen.</i> <i> Robin says it's because</i> <i> she hasn't made
a transaction lately.</i> <i> But she's tapped out.</i> <i> That's when he disappears.</i> I was stupid. I always try to be
very intelligent. But I fall for this. And I consider this as a shame. [David]<i>
Stephanie's case lands here.</i> <i> We're inside
the Cyber Crimes unit</i> <i> with Edmonton police detective
Dana Gehring.</i> <i> He's become an expert
on pig butchering.</i> These scammers, they play
on the deepest human emotions. It's love, greed,
compassion, trust. Whatever it is that they can
wrap themselves around to try and pull those individuals in,
they will do that. [David]<i>
Romance and investment scams</i> <i> cost Canadians
just over $60 million in 2020.</i> <i> By last year,
losses ballooned six times,</i> <i> to about $360 million.</i> <i> And many victims
never come forward.</i> But you can see
how fast it evolved. -[David] Yeah.
-And how profitable it is. But you are making a dent.
How do you do that? One of the things you wanna do
is follow the money. [David]<i> That's where
Ryan Ryder comes in.</i> I can show you kind of in a
live time what that looks like. [David]<i> Ryder is a former cop</i> <i>who helps global law enforcement
trace criminal activity</i> <i>in the world of cryptocurrency.</i> <i> He's giving us an inside look</i> <i> at cutting-edge tactics
they use.</i> This particular address,
um, has sent -some 648 bitcoin to it.
-That's a lot of money. We've got $20.6 million US that have been sent
to that address by itself. So, certainly that's
more than one victim that we're seeing here. This is much easier
to follow than cash. It is fully open source.
It is a public ledger. You can-- you can look
at every transaction that's ever come in
and ever gone out of every Bitcoin address
in existence. We translate
those letters and numbers that are Bitcoin addresses, we translate those into
entities, and we cluster them. And we're able to identify that
this group of addresses belongs to this particular scam
or this particular exchange. [David]<i> In Stephanie's case,</i> <i> they were able to
trace her money</i> <i> all the way to Cambodia,</i> <i> a known scamming hotspot.</i> <i> But there are legal roadblocks
trying to retrieve it.</i> <i> Back in Toronto...</i> I would love to know
what's happening on the other side here. <i> Suspected scammer Zhou Ya
is urging us</i> <i> to invest perhaps $10,000.</i> She says you can earn
about $120-$150 US a day. <i> Before we do,
we ask for a video call.</i> <i> Instead, Zhou Ya responds
with a voice message.</i> [Zhou Ya] [David]<i> But when we do call,
there's no answer.</i> [dial tone ringing] Oh, she's just responded to you. "This confuses me because
I've called you a few times. Could it be
because of the network?" <i> She clearly
doesn't want to talk.</i> <i> And we really don't
wanna give her the money.</i> We know that
this is the exact pattern used to defraud
thousands of people out of millions of dollars. <i> People like Peter,
also in Edmonton,</i> <i> who's packing up memories
and his mother's belongings.</i> [Peter] There's probably nothing
worse than to tell your family you've lost everything. [David]<i> He's selling
his mom's home</i> <i> to help pay back money he lost</i> <i> from when he was
pig butchered too.</i> [Peter] It-- it feels awful. [David]<i> Peter is worried about
his professional reputation,</i> <i> so we've agreed
to hide his identity.</i> How much did they get from you? [Peter]
Probably close to $400,000. -That's huge.
-It's everything I have. It's devastating. [David]<i> There's no real
seduction involved with Peter.</i> <i> He's actually the one
to reach out first.</i> This all started with
something you saw on Facebook. [Peter] I saw advertisements
for cryptocurrency. It was in a time
where I was just trying it out. I was very new,
and I needed help doing it. [David]<i> Peter contacts
an online exchange</i> <i> called Cryptos Circus.</i> <i> It sets him up with a broker
to teach him how to trade,</i> <i> though Peter says
it was more than that.</i> [Peter]
It was like a friendship. He said, "You'll be able
to help your mom." [David]<i> Peter deposits $25,000.</i> <i> He's told they'll be making
sophisticated trades,</i> <i> exploiting tiny differences
in the price of cryptocurrency</i> <i> on different markets.</i> He would call me,
"You just made this huge amount of money today. How-- how are you feeling
about that?" And I'm like, "I'm ecstatic. I can't believe how much money
you made me today." [David]<i>
Peter can track his profits</i> <i> on the Cryptos Circus website,</i> <i> not realizing
it's part of the scam.</i> <i> Just like Stephanie,
they let him withdraw some money</i> <i> to convince him it's all real.</i> <i> Peter soon invests more.</i> Tell me about how you got
your mom involved in this. [Peter] He asked me
if I could get some money, and if I was willing to do approximately
a $250,000 investment. He said probably
within 30 to 60 days, that million dollars
would be ready to go in my-- in my bank account. I went and I asked my mom. I-- I asked her
what she thought. And she says, "Well, that sounds
too good to be true to me." And then I showed her pictures of all of the trading
that we've done, all of the profits I have. So my mom trusted me
to do that investment. So-- so we took a loan out
on her house to do it. Biggest mistake of my life. [David]<i> When that
quarter of a million dollar loan</i> <i> is transferred
into cryptocurrency,</i> <i> the scammer claims
Peter does something wrong.</i> When I did that investment,
he called me. He said, "Well, I don't have
the money. What did you do?" And I said "I don't know
what you're saying. That transfer was done
an hour or two ago." They put it on me and said,
"Well, you-- you did it wrong. So now that money's gone." How has it impacted
your relationship -with your family?
-[Peter sighs] [tearful] We've always been
a very positive family, and... I've been labelled
as a criminal... in my family, to some of them. And it's devastated me. [David]<i> But could the scammers
be victims too?</i> You thought you might die. [John]<i> Yeah. I worry about that.</i> [David]<i>
This is your</i> Marketplace. <i> We're tracking a new scam
known as "pig butchering."</i> [Katie] It's a lot of money. [David]<i> It's a long-term con</i> <i> where victims are persuaded
through romance or friendship...</i> I was being scammed. [David]<i> ...to empty
their life savings</i> <i> into investment schemes</i> <i> built on cryptocurrency fraud.</i> [Peter] They tricked me.
It feels awful. [David]<i>
It's costing Canadians millions.</i> -You gotta follow the money.
-Gotta follow the money. [David]<i> And in a twist
just as shocking,</i> <i> it's ruining lives
half a world away.</i> [tense music playing] <i>We're back in Bangkok, searching
the other side of this scheme</i> <i>with a man we're calling "John."</i> <i> He's a former scammer
who, as it turns out,</i> <i> is also a victim.</i> Some people have
used the term "cyber slave" to describe
what you were involved in. [John] Were you ever worried
for your life? [David]<i> This compound is
part of a casino in Cambodia,</i> <i> in the resort town
of Sihanoukville.</i> <i> It's a sleepy place until
Chinese investors transform it</i> <i> into a gambling destination</i> <i> and international
crime groups move in.</i> <i> When the pandemic hits,</i> <i> the casinos go online,</i> <i> and the focus soon shifts
to scamming.</i> [David]<i> John answers a job ad
like this one,</i> <i> thinking he'll be working
for an online casino.</i> <i>He quickly learns they want him
for pig butchering instead.</i> What if you didn't make money
for the company? Did you see
any of that yourself? [David]<i> What you're about to see
is hard to look at.</i> <i> These are verified photos</i> <i>from inside a scamming compound.</i> <i> They show what can happen
to people who try to escape,</i> <i> or are tortured for
not being a good scammer.</i> <i> John secretly tries
reaching out for help,</i> <i> but he's caught.</i> <i> Expecting to be killed,</i> <i> he is instead sold
to another scam centre</i> <i> for $11,000.</i> [David] What happened there? [David]<i> John quickly decides
again to reach out for help.</i> <i>Using this fake Twitter account,</i> <i> he contacts a group
actively working to free people</i> <i> from modern slavery.</i> [John] Good to see you. [David]<i> This is the man
who helped John escape.</i> <i> Jake Sims works for the
International Justice Mission,</i> <i> a group that tries to protect
vulnerable people from violence.</i> What do the criminal kingpins
look for in somebody they want to bring in
to the operation? Vulnerability. Your typical profile is someone
who probably speaks
a couple of languages, is college-educated. You know, probably is
quite savvy with technology, with social media. They're out of work,
they're seeking, uh, quite high-risk
employment opportunities, so they are--
they are desperate. [David]<i> And even though
they do it under duress,</i> <i> Sims says people like John</i> <i> might still get penalized
once it's over.</i> The people who are
trapped in this, who are forced to work,
it's huge risk. They are frequently
detained, arrested, charged, and convicted, uh, when they return
to their home country. [David]<i> In Cambodia alone,
credible estimates say</i> <i> at least 100,000 people
are made to work</i> <i> in online scams.</i> <i> They generate
more than $8 billion a year.</i> <i> Forced scamming operations
are now expanding</i> <i> throughout the region
and beyond.</i> It's obscenely lucrative. Um, and it also is rather
straightforward to operate. But above everything else, this exists because the people
who are perpetrating it have very, very low risks
of accountability. [David]<i> What happens when
we confront the other side?</i> [Katie] "I know this is a scam. Is someone forcing you
to do this?" [David]<i>
This is your</i> Marketplace. <i> We're texting with someone
we think is trying to scam us.</i> I think it's time
to call them out. <i> It's called "pig butchering."</i> <i> And it comes with
a bigger twist:</i> <i> many of the scammers
are victims themselves.</i> <i> So we confront ours
with caution.</i> [Katie] "I know this is a scam,
but I also know that many people doing it
are not bad people. Is someone forcing you
to do this?" [David]<i> At first,
they deny any wrongdoing.</i> "Why do you think
this is a scam? I've been in it
and nothing ever happened." [David]<i> But then
they turn the tables</i> <i> and call us the bad guys.</i> "You are a liar? This sucks." <i> The exchange ends abruptly.</i> -We're blocked.
-We're blocked. [tense music playing] <i> Many agree that
public awareness is key</i> <i> to preventing pig butchering.</i> <i> But Jake Sims of the
International Justice Mission</i> <i> says there's also a need for</i> <i> countries and companies
to step up.</i> [Jake] So we know that the
vast majority of these people are being exploited
over social media platforms. We know that
financial institutions both where the crime is
occurring and internationally are being instrumentalised. Those actors are also gonna need to play a major role
in the solution. [David]<i> We asked LinkedIn
what it's doing</i> <i>to protect people like Stephanie</i> <i> from fraudsters
like Robin Murray.</i> <i>It says it's introduced features
such as identity verification.</i> <i> Meantime, Facebook tells us
it has no record of the ad</i> <i> that lured Peter in
and led to all of his losses.</i> <i>It says it's constantly working
to block harmful activity.</i> [sniffles, stammers] It still give me
tremendous pain. [David]<i> For victims
like Stephanie and Peter,</i> <i> there is no easy way back.</i> [Peter] Yeah, I-- I'm working
three jobs right now. Do you think you'll ever
recover financially? [Peter] No. [sombre music playing] Have you forgiven yourself? Never. I don't think I will
ever forgive myself. Because I was so dumb. [Peter] I'm gonna say yes. I think I can and I have. But... forgiveness is also remembering
the things that you've done. [tearful]
I just hope in the future, my family, in the end, can also give me
their forgiveness.
