There have been some incredible developments these last two months in the fight against forced scamming. For the first time, the world’s most powerful governments are beginning to treat this crisis not as a distant crime, but as a global human rights emergency — one that can be fought with the same tools once used against war criminals and oligarchs. At the centre of that strategy is a man named Bill Browder.

From Washington to Phnom Penh, this episode follows how the same weapon Browder helped create is being turned on the crime bosses and corrupt officials profiting from human trafficking and forced scamming in Cambodia.

Two months on from the verdict, Ava's battle continues.

LINK TO GIVE TO AVA'S GOFUNDME:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/vxg4d-support-avas-legal-battle-in-thailand

Ava's verdict was handed down - and it was not what any of us had been hoping for.

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LINK TO GIVE TO AVA'S GOFUNDME:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/vxg4d-support-avas-legal-battle-in-thailand

Micah is finally free, but Ava is still trapped. When dramatically she does get released, instead of finding a joyful reunion, she’s handcuffed and charged as a criminal. Both Micah and Ava realize that though they’ve escaped Sihanoukville, there’s a long journey ahead to rebuilding their lives.

PLUS: What’s the connection between recent U.S. funding cuts, Chinese crime syndicates, and your bank account? And with hundreds of thousands of people still trapped in scam compounds, what can you, the listener, do to help?

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

We discover that the person Micah reached out to for help was none other than our producer Jake. The wheels for rescue are put into motion but the scam boss discovers that Micah has been asking for help, and calls him in to face the consequences.

PLUS: Americans lost $12.5 billion in 2024 alone to online scams. How is the government responding? The answer might surprise you.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

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Here's that video of the police raid (the bit at DV is ~3:15 onwards):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqzdlLihfjU

Here are the news reports referenced:

• https://nikkei.shorthandstories.com/
• https://vodenglish.news/thai-police-visit-concludes-with-66-rescued-other-victims-moved
• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/28/world/asia/cambodia-cyber-scam.html
• https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2637946/cyber-scam-industry-booms-in-plain-sight-in-cambodia

Micah is sold to another scam center, bigger and more brutal than the last. Tasers. Dark rooms. So-called “suicides,” and co-workers who simply disappear. He’s close to giving up, when he stumbles upon a person on the internet, who might be his last hope of escape.

PLUS: We ask transnational crime expert - and show producer - Jacob “Jake” Sims (an American) why governments in Southeast Asia aren’t doing much to stop forced scamming.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

Conditions in the compound worsen as the scammers are forced to extract more money from victims. An emotional encounter with a victim leaves Ava shaken and depressed. Micah’s escape plan backfires terribly: he’s been caught.

PLUS: we speak to an American who lost his life savings, and break down just how “pig butchering” scams work – and why they’re so effective.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

**Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence. Listener discretion is advised.**

Trapped with Ava in a heavily guarded compound, Micah learns that escaping won’t be as easy as he thought. He forms a daring plan, but when he sees other workers brutally punished and beaten, knows he’s taking a major risk. Even still, he acts.

PLUS: we fly to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, to follow Micah’s footsteps and see for ourselves that scam factories are operating out in the open, and unchecked.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

Season 2 of the multi-award-winning podcast The Fight of My Life returns with Escaping Scam City—a six-part true crime series about love, deception, and survival inside Southeast Asia’s hidden scam compounds.

Young couple Micah and Ava apply for what they think is a dream job in Cambodia. Ava arrives first and realises it’s in fact a scamming factory, targeting people overseas like you and me. She warns Micah not to come, but he decides to follow her in – and hopefully get them both out.

PLUS: we speak to leading experts on the highly sophisticated recruitment strategies employed to trick hundreds of thousands of people like Micah and Ava into this exploding criminal industry.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

Season 2 of the multi-award-winning podcast The Fight of My Life returns with Escaping Scam City—a six-part true crime series about love, deception, and survival inside Southeast Asia’s hidden scam compounds.

Season 2 of The Fight of My Life - Escaping Scam City delves into the alarming rise of forced scamming, exploring what has been termed the "pig butchering epidemic and its global impact.

Produced as a six-episode immersive podcast, Escaping Scam City centers around the true story of a young Malaysian man named Micah*. In an attempt to save his girlfriend, Ava*, from imprisonment in a Cambodian scamming compound, he finds himself trapped in a dark criminal underworld he knows he must escape. Even if it means risking his life to do so.

We journey with Micah from the moment he applies for what he believes is a customer service job, through the deceptive journey to Cambodia, the torturous months he spent imprisoned and abused in an online scamming compound, and finally to his daring escape and ongoing attempts to seek justice for himself and Ava.

Alongside Micah’s journey we engage experts to uncover the root causes and second-order consequences of forced scamming, as well as the victims who have themselves been scammed, and the organisations and individuals advocating for survivors and systemic reform.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

Episode 6 - The Triumph: Bitterness and anger well up in Ruby as she tries to move on with her life. Can she overcome this and truly heal?

We open with Ruby’s dream. She is walking in a lush green field where she feels safe and free.

The dream echoes Psalm 23 and comes after Ruby and her social worker at the DSWD pray about Ruby moving to a new safe house in the country.

It is here, at the new house,  that Ruby gradually recovers from her trauma and reclaims her life.

Change isn’t instant or easy, but it  is powerful. 

She also makes a very important decision that will change not only her own life but those of her perpetrators, Nadine and Pedro, dramatically.

This episode sees Ruby making progress in healing in ways you might not expect. Her last actions in this episode will stay with you forever.

Issues this episode explores:

• The complex nature of trauma 
• The concept of restorative justice
• Paths to rehabilitation and healing 

Show website: fightofmy.life
Cadence website: cadencemedia.au
Nikki Florence Thompson website: nikkifthompson.com

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CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of sexual violence. Listener discretion is advised.

Please seek help if you need to.

To speak to a trained crisis supporter at Lifeline (24-hours): 131 114
To report a crime to the Australian Federal Police: 1800 333 000
For emergency assistance: 000

FOR THE PHILIPPINES:
If you have suspicions about the occurrence of online sexual exploitation of children in your community, immediately report to: www.1343actionline.ph

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Finding Ruby is a production of Cadence Productions.

Show written and edited by Nikki Florence Thompson and Rich Thompson. 
Additional production by Lydia Bowden, Anthea Godsmark, and Brendan Ridley. 
Sound design and mix by Rich Thompson and Brendan Ridley. 
Graphic design and social media by Sayaka Miyashita, Carla Moran, and Alyssa Sheridan. 
Director of photography is Brad Conomy. 
Matt Tooker is the executive producer.

Show Music
- "Homeland" by Searching for Light, featuring Jenna Carlie.