A Chinese man who claims to have been taken to Myanmar and forced to work at a scam operation center has spoken about his ordeal in an interview with NHK.



Xu Bochun, aged 38, is a resident of Shanghai. He says he applied through social media for a job as a movie extra in July 2023, when he was unemployed.



He was instructed to go to a town in Yunnan Province near the border with Myanmar. There, Xu was surrounded by Chinese and Myanmar nationals armed with knives and other weapons, made to travel for three days in one vehicle after another, and arrived at Laukkaing in Myanmar's Shan State.



He says he was taken to meet human traffickers and handed over to a scam ring.



Xu says the price per person was 250,000 Chinese yuan, or about 34,000 dollars. He was told that if no one wanted him, they would sell his organs.



The scam ring's stronghold was a seven-story building with iron bars on the windows. Armed guards were always on watch.



About 200 people were forced to work on one floor, taking on roles in scams involving crypto assets and stocks, as well as fraud through dating websites.



Xu was directed to create a social media account using a smartphone, and sell crypto assets to targets in Southeast Asia. When his performance was poor, he was physically punished.



Most of those who were brought to the scam center were Chinese, and there were some Vietnamese nationals also.



Xu found a chance to contact his family and seek help. His family negotiated with the scam ring through a Chinese private group in Laukkaing, and he was freed about three months after his departure from China.



But the family had to pay about 140,000 dollars for his release. To get the money, they sold their condominium and borrowed money from relatives.



Xu says some people were punched to death, so he lived in fear every day. He was mentally drained and felt only despair.



Xu says human trafficking and scams are rooted as businesses in Myanmar, so it would be impossible to eradicate them.