This Planet Money episode features a collaboration with the Search Engine podcast, where host P.J. Vogt and investigative reporter Zeke Faux delve into the world of "pig butchering" scams. Faux recounts his experience engaging with a scammer named Vicky Ho, tracing the flow of money to uncover a network of human trafficking and scam compounds in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The investigation reveals that these compounds force trafficked individuals to run scams, often relying on the cryptocurrency Tether to facilitate the illicit transactions. The episode highlights the desperation of both the scammers and their victims, the brutal conditions within the compounds, and the challenges in combating these sophisticated operations.
