A woman you met online gives a sinister smirk and covers your mouth with a drug-laced cloth. When you open your eyes, you’re in a cage inside a high-walled compound, surrounded by gun-wielding men in sunglasses and leather jackets.
Then you’re taken to a large office with thousands of employees sitting in front of computers. A boss promises you money and freedom — if you can raise a certain amount by scamming unsuspecting victims.
The scenes are from “Blood Money: Lethal Eden,” a new video game by a Chinese developer that puts players in the shoes of people forced to work as online scammers. The game’s release on Saturday prompted discussion in China, where fears about scams and human trafficking have pervaded social media and popular films, including a 2023 movie about a Chinese computer programmer who is lured to a scam compound with promises of high pay.
The location of the fictional compound in “Blood Money” is not specified, but has many hallmarks of Chinese-run facilities in Myanmar. Characters speak Chinese and the trailer video features text in Burmese, Myanmar’s official language.
People from around the world have been kidnapped and forced to work in scam compounds in Southeast Asia, the hub of an industry that the U.S. Treasury Department says has cheated Americans alone out of more than $16.6 billion.
Several countries have been trying to crack down on the criminal gangs that run the compounds. Two men accused of running scam operations in Myanmar and Cambodia were recently extradited to China to face charges. The United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on people and companies with links to scam centers, and China and South Korea have sent planes to bring back rescued victims.
The game is one of a growing handful about scam centers. In July, Qway Gamers, a Chinese developer, released a game called “The Masquerade,” in which players learn to perform scams. And Jiao Games, a developer based in Australia, plans to release a game called “Scam Center Simulator: Under Kingdom” later this year.
“Blood Money” is part of the genre of full-motion video (F.M.V.) games, which offer players decisions as they move through a recorded narrative. Allison Yang, the founder of Reality Reload, a video game studio in Washington, D.C., said scam center games reflect a shift in the Chinese video game industry in the past two years, from fantasy to topics that players encounter in their culture and society. Chinese nationals are the largest group targeted by gangs as victims of scams and human trafficking, according to Interpol.
Fraudsters working in scam compounds typically use social media and messaging apps to contact victims around the world. The victims — often people who are looking for a job, a relationship or a lucrative investment — are tricked into investing money in fake schemes.
In the trailer for “Blood Money,” the protagonist is a scammer trapped by gangsters armed with guns and Tasers. Later, the player has to choose between protecting a woman being punished by the gangsters or staying silent.
Scenes in the game look similar to images of actual scam compounds, including an abandoned one that New York Times journalists recently visited in Myanmar. It had office blocks packed with computers and other electronic equipment used by scammers, plus Chinese restaurants and luxury villas for Chinese scam bosses.
Reviewers on the gaming platform Steam said the fictional compound in “Blood Money” has areas for scam operations, prostitution and torture. This is consistent with real compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia.
The game was developed by Jade Flame, a studio based in the western Chinese province of Sichuan. The company declined an interview request.
Victor Fu, who posts video game reviews on the Chinese social media platform Douyin, said that while “Blood Money” is topical, he didn’t think it would become a hit because few people would want to pay $8 for it.
“Their production quality is obviously not that high,” said Mr. Fu.
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
The post A New Video Game Traps Players in an Online Scam Center appeared first on New York Times.
