Observers are calling this possibly the biggest human trafficking event in modern times. Hundreds of thousands of people recruited – usually under false pretences - to work in massive facilities in the border areas of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, to promote fraudulent investment schemes and romance scams to unsuspecting citizens around the world. The scams, run by criminal gangs, are thought to be making tens of billions of dollars every year. Those recruited often find themselves, trapped, beaten and tortured. Ed Butler travels to Thailand’s border with Myanmar to investigate the scale of the trade, to speak to survivors and to some of those still involved, and to explore what role the ongoing civil war in Myanmar is playing in fuelling this apparently burgeoning criminal trade, beyond the reach of international law-enforcement.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.