Call centres operating in Myanmar ‘released’ 261 foreigners on Wednesday.
The call centre employees were allowed to cross the border back into Thailand, reported the Bangkok Post, after being escorted there by the Karen National Army (KNA), an ethnic paramilitary organisation that controls some of Myanmar’s borders.
It is thought the KNA derives some of its funding from call centre operations that are based in the country.
The move came a week after Thailand shut off the power supply to several areas of Myanmar. Thai authorities have also cut off the internet and have threatened to stop allowing food and other goods from being imported to the region.
That decision was made in an attempt to curb the call centre operations, which often target Thai citizens and also drag in foreign nationals, who pass through Thailand on their way to the country.
Most of the call centres lure foreigners from various parts of the world with the promise of high paying jobs. However, they are then forced to work in scam operations and banned from leaving, often with threats of physical violence if they attempt to do so.
So-called ‘pig butchering’ scams are known to have emanated from these call centres.
Although it has never been confirmed, it’s plausible one of these organisations using a fraudulent trading platform which was made to look a MetaQuotes product, was the reason MetaQuotes products were taken off the iOS store in late 2022.