Julian Morgans

In 2022, Troy became one of the first people to speak publicly about what was happening in Myanmar. The Washington Post was the first big newspaper to share his story. And from there, the world took an interest. Later that same year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published the first major report on forced criminality, as they called it.

In 2022, Troy became one of the first people to speak publicly about what was happening in Myanmar. The Washington Post was the first big newspaper to share his story. And from there, the world took an interest. Later that same year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published the first major report on forced criminality, as they called it.

Public awareness of pig butchering scams has only grown since, and Troy, he's a major reason why. These days, he sees himself as kind of like an information curator. He's across all the local reporting from NGOs and media in Southeast Asia, and he distills this stuff into updates on his LinkedIn and his Facebook.

Public awareness of pig butchering scams has only grown since, and Troy, he's a major reason why. These days, he sees himself as kind of like an information curator. He's across all the local reporting from NGOs and media in Southeast Asia, and he distills this stuff into updates on his LinkedIn and his Facebook.

So he's a big resource for journalists, law enforcement, and anyone who's been scammed. In fact, at the end of this episode, I'm going to provide details on how you can reach Troy if you've been scammed and you need some guidance. But right now we're going to take a break. And when we're back, we're going to check in on Q because he is plotting an escape plan.

So he's a big resource for journalists, law enforcement, and anyone who's been scammed. In fact, at the end of this episode, I'm going to provide details on how you can reach Troy if you've been scammed and you need some guidance. But right now we're going to take a break. And when we're back, we're going to check in on Q because he is plotting an escape plan.

welcome back okay so you remember small q right our ugandan rapper who flew to thailand thinking that he'd landed the job of his dreams only to end up enslaved well at this part in the timeline q has been incarcerated for a few months he's got into the rhythm of survival but but he desperately wants to get out and he's considered climbing a fence but the problem is they're huge and they're topped with razor wire and also he's stuck in a country in the middle of a civil war

welcome back okay so you remember small q right our ugandan rapper who flew to thailand thinking that he'd landed the job of his dreams only to end up enslaved well at this part in the timeline q has been incarcerated for a few months he's got into the rhythm of survival but but he desperately wants to get out and he's considered climbing a fence but the problem is they're huge and they're topped with razor wire and also he's stuck in a country in the middle of a civil war

Q actually told me he could hear gunfire and explosions most days, so you can imagine that kind of headspace. He's decided that the best bet is to try to get an SOS message to the outside world. But that's hard too, because the scammer farm uses AI to monitor all outgoing messages on the computers, and all of the phones that he's running scams on, they're checked all the time.

Q actually told me he could hear gunfire and explosions most days, so you can imagine that kind of headspace. He's decided that the best bet is to try to get an SOS message to the outside world. But that's hard too, because the scammer farm uses AI to monitor all outgoing messages on the computers, and all of the phones that he's running scams on, they're checked all the time.

In fact, here's what Q said.

In fact, here's what Q said.

Got it.

Got it.

100 iPhones, just unused, sitting on this guy's desk. And Q figures if he can just pocket one of them, he can get word out to the outside world.

100 iPhones, just unused, sitting on this guy's desk. And Q figures if he can just pocket one of them, he can get word out to the outside world.

So Q decided that he'd refuse to work, so they'd take him upstairs to the boss's office to be punished, where hopefully he was going to be able to swipe a phone.

So Q decided that he'd refuse to work, so they'd take him upstairs to the boss's office to be punished, where hopefully he was going to be able to swipe a phone.

Small Q was bundled into this upstairs office where he found the boss was already punishing a teenage boy. And I just want to warn you, from this point, the story gets pretty violent.

Small Q was bundled into this upstairs office where he found the boss was already punishing a teenage boy. And I just want to warn you, from this point, the story gets pretty violent.