A national broadcast investigation has exposed a wide-reaching scheme of cryptocurrency frauds that have siphoned “millions” from Canadian victims and links those operations to forced labour and torture inside call-centre compounds in Southeast Asia. The reporting documents both the financial drain on Canadians and the human-trafficking structures that sustain the scams.

Investigators, including former U.S. prosecutor Erin West, visited compounds in the Philippines and describe organized-crime involvement and coercive practices used to keep workers producing fraudulent leads and social-engineering victims. As West put it, “TORTURE INSIDE THESE COMPOUNDS IS EXTREME,” and the testimony includes accounts of threats, beatings, and other forced participation in ongoing fraud operations.

Operational mechanics reported by the investigation are familiar to anti-fraud teams: coordinated cold-call campaigns, fake investment platforms and impersonation scams that funnel victims toward cryptocurrency “investment” accounts, rapid on‑chain layering to obfuscate flows, and pressure to convert fiat into crypto quickly. Call centres function as production factories — both psychically coercing inside workers and creating high-volume, targeted outreach that scales across borders.

Social-media platforms and ad networks are singled out for enabling the distribution of scam content. The report criticizes Meta and others for insufficient moderation and for allowing scam advertisements and influencer-style pitches to reach wide audiences, even as criminal groups adapt by relocating operations to new jurisdictions to evade enforcement and platform countermeasures.

Market and policy implications for the crypto space are material. Large-scale scams erode retail confidence, invite accelerated regulatory and banking scrutiny of on‑ramps and custodial services, and increase reputational risk for legitimate crypto businesses. From a liquidity and flow perspective, repeated headlines about mass fraud and trafficking can shift investor sentiment toward de‑risking, prompt exchanges to tighten onboarding, and accelerate compliance-driven capital controls that make rapid fiat–crypto conversion harder for everyday users.

Law-enforcement and regulatory responses will need to address both cybercrime and transnational human-trafficking dimensions: coordinated cross-border investigations, pressured cooperation from platforms on ad and account takedowns, and stronger AML/KYC enforcement across fiat corridors that feed crypto rails.

Source: https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2025/12/19/torture-inside-these-compounds-is-extreme-w5-investigates-cryptocurrency-scams-targeting-canadians/