In a world where cryptocurrency continues to thrive, it is also being exploited for some of the darkest and most illicit activities. A recent report by MIT Technology Review unveils the sinister underbelly of this digital currency ecosystem, where criminals are taking advantage of its anonymous, decentralized nature to fuel a global network of scams, human trafficking, and money laundering.
Tether (USDT), one of the most widely circulated cryptocurrencies, is at the center of this troubling narrative. With over $140 billion in circulation, Tether has become a preferred method of exchange for fraudsters and criminals worldwide. In 2023, a report by TRM Labs revealed that nearly $19.3 billion worth of Tether transactions were linked to illicit activities, including human trafficking and scams. While Tether is often marketed as a stablecoin, its ties to criminal syndicates suggest otherwise.
MIT Technology Review dives deeper into the personal story of Gavesh, a man trafficked into a scam operation, revealing how vulnerable workers are being exploited within this crypto-fueled ecosystem. Gavesh’s experience provides a haunting glimpse into the realities faced by those caught in the web of human trafficking, where crypto is often used to facilitate transactions and launder stolen funds.
Reporting by Emily Fishbein, supported by the Pulitzer Center, traces Gavesh’s harrowing journey through the Thai countryside, where he and another trafficked worker, a Chinese woman, were transported under the cover of darkness. As Gavesh recalls, the uncertainty began when they were asked to change vehicles without explanation, a red flag that immediately aroused his suspicions. Despite the unease, they continued onward.
After hours of travel, the driver stopped at a small hotel on the outskirts of Mae Sot, a city on Thailand’s western border with Myanmar. They quickly switched to another vehicle and continued their journey. The night was oppressive with the silence of a remote, pitch-black landscape, a stark contrast to the sense of panic and confusion mounting inside Gavesh.
When they reached a secluded location resembling a private house, Gavesh and the woman were ushered out of the vehicle and marched through the fields, their path lit only by flashlights. They were taken to a riverside where a boat awaited them. “By then, it was far too late to back out,” Gavesh recalls, as they were forced onto the boat without any chance of escape. What had seemed like an innocent exchange between vehicles was just the beginning of a long, agonizing ordeal that would see Gavesh sold into a scam compound.
Once in the compound, Gavesh was subjected to forced labor as part of a larger scam operation that targeted unsuspecting individuals, often using romance scams to lure in victims. While Tether (USDT) enabled the traffickers to move funds anonymously across borders, the workers trapped within these networks became pawns in a larger criminal operation that spanned multiple countries. Criminal syndicates use platforms like these to exploit vulnerable workers who are promised lucrative pay but are instead coerced into scamming others.
The extent of these operations is staggering. According to research by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), traffickers have operated across more than 60 countries, making it difficult for law enforcement to track down perpetrators or bring them to justice. Much of the stolen money flows through crypto wallets based in jurisdictions where financial oversight is minimal, allowing criminals to move funds without fear of detection.
The role of Tether in these operations is clear. With its ability to be transferred anonymously and its widespread use among illicit networks, Tether serves as a key enabler of these criminal activities. In Southeast Asia, where many of these scams are based, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has identified Tether as a leading medium for fraud and money laundering.
For Gavesh, the escape from his traffickers did not come easily. Twice during his time in captivity, he was sold to different “employers,” a chilling reminder of how these operations are structured as multi-layered scams designed to maximize profits at the expense of human lives. It wasn’t until he was sold a third time in February 2023 that he and his fellow workers managed to negotiate their freedom.
In a desperate bid for freedom, Gavesh and his fellow captives begged their captors to release them. However, their release came at a steep price: they had to forfeit their wages and pay a ransom. For Gavesh, this ransom amounted to over $2,000—an insurmountable sum for someone already exploited and penniless.
The escape itself was fraught with danger. The workers were transported in a military vehicle through treacherous jungle paths to avoid checkpoints. Their journey back to Thailand was marked by fear and uncertainty, as they had no guarantee that they would make it out alive. Once back in Thailand, Gavesh and his companions barely had enough money to survive for a couple of days in the city. With the help of a fellow worker, Gavesh was able to contact the International Justice Mission (IJM) for assistance, which helped him navigate the complex legal and immigration hurdles in his way. It took months before Gavesh was able to return home, and he was met with even more scrutiny from immigration authorities.
The story of Gavesh and many others highlights the slow response from governments and tech companies to address the growing problem of crypto-enabled scams and human trafficking. Despite efforts by countries like China and Thailand to curb these activities, the global nature of the problem makes it extremely difficult to enforce regulations effectively.
In the United States, there has been little legislative action to directly address the abuse of tech platforms for criminal activities. While there have been some attempts to regulate cryptocurrency, including investigations into Tether’s role in facilitating money laundering, the pace of enforcement remains sluggish. Moreover, social media platforms like Facebook, Meta, and Telegram, which are often used by criminals to perpetrate scams, have been slow to implement meaningful actions to curb this abuse. Despite the formation of initiatives like Tech Against Scams, these efforts have largely been ineffective in stopping the spread of criminal activity across their platforms.
Recent political shifts, particularly under the Trump administration, have further complicated efforts to regulate crypto and combat these crimes. The rollback of funding for anti-trafficking programs, coupled with a stance against stricter online content moderation, has only fueled the growth of these criminal networks.
Looking ahead, experts warn that the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools will only make it easier for scammers to create convincing fake personas, manipulate video and audio, and deceive victims on a larger scale. Generative AI has already been used by scammers to impersonate victims, using “face swap” technology and voice-altering software to create more realistic fraud attempts.
As Gavesh continues to heal from his trauma and work in the tourism industry, he remains determined to raise awareness about the dangers of these operations. Though he has managed to escape his past, his story serves as a grim reminder of the lengths to which criminals will go to exploit vulnerable people—and how technology, including cryptocurrency and AI, plays an instrumental role in these exploitative schemes.
For now, Gavesh remains committed to preventing others from falling into the same trap, although he notes that reporting scam pages on social media platforms like Facebook has often been fruitless. “There’s a very scary world,” he says, speaking about the dark and hidden world behind these online scams.
In the end, the onus is on tech companies, regulators, and global authorities to take more significant steps in cracking down on the use of cryptocurrency for criminal activity. Until that happens, the global network of scams and human trafficking will continue to thrive—driven by digital currencies like Tether that offer both anonymity and impunity to those behind them.
