Shabani Matani

He was wearing sort of dark grey baseball cap and acid wash jeans and a greyish black t-shirt.

When we sat down, he had his phone out and he was taking little notes on his phone and he seemed kind of nervous.

Then once he started speaking, I had to sort of figure out times that I could interrupt him because once he started talking, he really opened up about his story and just got really into it and kept going.

Shuaib asked me to identify him by just his first name for his security, because what he shares about the inner workings of these criminal syndicates, which continue to operate today, and his own role could put him at risk.

Shuaib told me his story from the beginning, before he even arrived in Cambodia.

And, you know, I think it's important because it reveals the long and really the truly global reach of the scam industry.

So Shoaib is from Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

One day in January of 2025, he was sick in bed, scrolling TikTok, when he saw something that made him stop for a little bit.

It was a targeted job ad on his For You page.

Promising somewhere between $800 to $1,000 for a month's work in Cambodia.

So at first he actually dismissed it and, you know, he kept scrolling.

And right away, he was sent a WhatsApp number to continue the conversation with a recruiter.

The recruiter told him that there were a few different positions available, that there was a lot of work.

He could be a supermarket attendant, a delivery driver or a warehouse worker.

And on top of that, they would even cover his visa and his travel expenses and food and accommodation once he got there.

It was a pretty big deal because in Kampala, someone like Shuaib could only earn about $150, $200 a month.

The person on the other end of the phone was offering him up to $1,000 a month.

Schwab had always relied on himself.

He has 10 siblings, and both his parents passed away by the time he was 18.

So he had to drop out of school and get a job.