A Reuters investigation uncovered how criminal networks in Southeast Asia are using ChatGPT to run global fraud operations while forcing trafficked workers to participate. Kenyan national Duncan Okindo told Reuters he was tricked into traveling to Thailand with the promise of a customer service job. Once he arrived, armed men abducted him and took him across the border into Myanmar.
The compound where he was held, called KK Park, was run by Chinese-led syndicates. Okindo said hundreds of people sat in long rows of computers, posing as investors or businesspeople online. “ChatGPT was the most-used AI tool to help scammers do their thing,” he said.
How the scam worked
Okindo described how workers targeted U.S. real estate agents on property websites like Zillow. Using ChatGPT, they wrote fluent messages that made them sound like wealthy Americans seeking to buy land or invest in crypto. The goal was to convince at least two victims a day to deposit funds into fake crypto accounts. Those deposits were later stolen.
The bosses rewarded successful scammers with food and privileges, while punishing others with beatings or electric shocks. “You needed to sound natural, or they’d know you were fake,” Okindo explained.
Tech companies respond
HAART Kenya, an anti-trafficking group, confirmed Okindo’s rescue earlier this year. His story aligns with accounts from other forced labor survivors Reuters interviewed.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, told Reuters that it constantly monitors and blocks fraud-related activity. “We actively investigate misuse and remove violators,” the company said.
Two Burmese men also told Reuters that scam operators in similar compounds used ChatGPT for “romance scams,” creating poems and flirtatious messages that convinced victims to send money.
Okindo managed to escape in April 2025 after Thai authorities cut power to KK Park and forced gangs to release several captives. He is now back in Kenya but says he still receives threatening calls from people linked to the networks.
According to Reuters, his experience exposes how artificial intelligence, human trafficking, and organized crime now intersect in a growing digital black market, one that turns everyday technology into a global engine for deception.