The Big Trace

It's not unrealistic to presume that all of us have been targeted by a 'pigbutchering scam', a form of investment fraud in which the victim is gradually convinced into parting with increasing amounts of money (named after the practice of fattening up pigs before they're butchered). These begin with seemingly innocuous messages over text, social media or dating apps. This is the initial bait and, as soon as the victim replies, the scammers start turning the psychological screws with promises of easy money which will inevitably lead - after days, weeks or even months of building trust - to convincing requests for an investment or loan. But the recipients of these scam texts are not the only victims. In fact, the people sending these texts are victims themselves. - in the past few years, thousands of people have been trafficked into dystopian scam compounds scattered across Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Lured in with lucrative offers for non-existent office jobs, they are then threatened with beatings and forced to send the seemingly innocuous texts that we receive on our phones. Finance and cybercrime journalist Cezary Podkul worked on a landmark investigation into pigbutchering for ProPublica in 2022, which unveiled the full extent of these operations for the first time. Cezary kept in close contact with these figures as their stories unfolded and has since conducted hundreds of interviews with sources across 18 countries to uncover the brutality and full extent of these scam compounds. With its extraordinary characters, life-or-death consequences and urgent message The Big Trace is a gripping and important exposé of the world's most widespread financial fraud.