Cover Story | Cracking Down on Cross-Border Cyber Fraud
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文｜财新周刊 覃建行
By | Caixin Weekly, Tan Jianxing \n
吉林省白山市的林萍每天都在关注缅北的动态，她19岁的儿子小伟身陷缅甸果敢的电信网络诈骗公司已近四个月。在林萍的讲述中，小伟遭诱骗出国后，人身自由受限，被迫从事针对国内的“杀猪盘”诈骗，曾有人传话，要放小伟回国，需要45万元“赔付”。
Lin Ping, a resident of Baishan City in Jilin Province, China, has been closely monitoring the situation in northern Myanmar every day. Her 19-year-old son, Xiao Wei, has been trapped in a telecommunications fraud company in Kokang, Myanmar for nearly four months. According to Lin Ping's account, Xiao Wei was lured abroad and his personal freedom is now restricted. He is forced to engage in "pig-butchering" scams targeting people within China. There have been messages that if she wants her son back home, she would need to pay a "compensation" of 450,000 yuan (about $70,000).
林萍拿不出这么多钱，一个月前她开始考虑卖房“捞人”，但还没成功出手。9月10日她对财新说，由于没有业绩，小伟受到不同程度的体罚、殴打，数月沟通解救无望，现在即便儿子被抓回来她也能接受，哪怕回来坐个两三年牢，这是应该为自己的错误承担的代价，但不能拿命去埋单——她对缅北电诈园区乱象颇为担忧，担心儿子被转卖。
Lin Ping couldn't afford such a large sum of money. A month ago, she started considering selling her house to "bail out" her son, but she hasn't been successful yet. On September 10th, she told Caixin that due to lack of performance, Xiao Wei was subjected to varying degrees of physical punishment and beatings. After months of unsuccessful negotiations for his release, she now says she could accept it if her son were arrested and brought back home, even if he had to serve two or three years in prison. She believes this would be the price he should pay for his mistakes. However, she insists that he shouldn't have to risk his life - expressing concern about the chaotic situation in the Northern Myanmar phone scam park and fearing that her son might be sold off.
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