After six harrowing months in slavery, Small Q finally breaks free. A sweeping international effort helps him return to Uganda—but thousands remain trapped in scammer farms. In this conclusion, we explore what it will take to shut them down. Featuring a rare interview with a UN expert on the front lines of the fight.Please help Judah and his team continue to rescue scammer farm victims by donating at https://www.globaladvanceprojects.org/donateAnd please help Small Q rebuild his life by donating to his GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/26697324This is a What It Was Like SpecialProduced by SuperrealHosted by Julian Morgans @julianmorgansFind us on TikTok: @whatitwaslikepodcastFind us on YouTube: @whatitwaslikepodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What is the story of Small Q's escape?
and they're developing new platforms in which they can conduct their business.
What do you mean by new platforms?
I'm talking about illicit online marketplaces that have specifically popped up in the region on Telegram. They offer, like I mentioned, a bunch of different sort of specialty services from laundering to web hosting to malware as a service. A bunch of these different things can be found in those platforms.
So I'm kind of imagining like the old Silk Road, you know, like a marketplace where you go and buy drugs and guns. Is it like that, but just more sort of technologically advanced?
Yeah, I would say so. But it's all happening very much out in the open. A lot of these groups have upwards of like a million users, hundreds of thousands is very common. So I would sort of frame this under a more broader professionalization that's taking place within the industry. And I think, unfortunately, we're kind of just getting started with where this is heading.
We're going to take a quick ad break, but when we get back, I'm going to talk to John about how people like you and me, people who are getting scammed, can do things to protect ourselves. Welcome back. So we've been talking to John at the UNODC about what can be done with scammer farms. And the answer is, not much. Which is all kind of depressing, right? It's just so big.
So I figured if the world really is at a loss to stop online scams, the least I can do is ask John how we individuals can protect ourselves.
Is the way forward just like ruthless cynicism at all times?
Should I just click on nothing, trust no one, just stay off the internet as much as possible and never go to Myanmar?
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