Imperfect Victims: Comparing Chinese and Vietnamese Survivors of Forced Criminality in Southeast Asia’s Online Scam Industry

In recent years, the online scam industry has expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia, with operations shifting from dispersed setups in apartments, villas, and hotel rooms to large-scale “scam compounds” housing dozens of companies. Thousands of individuals have been deceived and trafficked into these facilities through fraudulent job offers, manipulation by acquaintances, or outright abduction. Yet those trafficked for forced criminality are often not recognised as victims. Because they are compelled to commit fraud, they are frequently perceived as offenders or willing participants rather than as people subjected to coercion. This paper draws on surveys, interviews, court records, and media coverage to compare Chinese and Vietnamese survivors, examining how they were recruited and what happened to them after leaving the compounds. Framing the analysis through the concept of the “ideal victim”, it argues that survivors of forced criminality elicit limited public sympathy in part because they do not conform to dominant stereotypes of victimhood. Many are able-bodied young men who initially believed they were entering legitimate or morally ambiguous work, which complicates their claims to victim status. Contrasting the profiles and narrative framings surrounding the two groups, the paper shows how ideas of deservingness and blame shape public and institutional responses, and calls for more nuanced understandings of coercion in the online scam industry as a basis for effective prevention and support.