'Sever the chain': scam tycoons in China's crosshairs

Across Southeast Asia, scammers lure internet users globally into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers -- from whom they have extracted billions, prompting rising public anger -- the scammers have expanded their operations into multiple languages to steal vast sums from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing volunteers, sometimes trafficked foreign nationals who have been trapped and forced to work under threat of torture.