Ngo Minh Hieu, who was released from prison in 2019, is now working for the Vietnamese government as a cybersecurity expert. Photo: Courtesy of Ngo Minh Hieu
Ngo Minh Hieu as a child, before he became one of the world's most prolific hackers. Photo: Courtesy of Ngo Minh Hieu
While treating his family to expensive vacations and meals using stolen money, they thought that he was working as a web developer for a U.S. firm—including his sister, who was six months pregnant when she accompanied Hieu to Guam to help with translations, witnessing his arrest.“When I got home, I did some research. Many of the old identities that I sold to the hackers back in the day were still there. It was still getting sold on the dark web… When a person loses their identity, they lose it forever.”
Governments across Asia have been warning their citizens to steer clear of suspicious foreign job offers promising high wages, while the Cambodian government has recently begun showing signs of taking the issue seriously as the industry threatens the country’s reputation.“The rapid evolution of this form of human trafficking has been deeply disturbing… Just 18 months ago, these scam centers using forced labor were almost unheard of, and now they are a major threat to people's safety.”
