Poilievre Wants to Stop Scams on Seniors... But Can He?

Poilievre wants to protect Canadian seniors from scammers

Less than two weeks to go before the federal election on April 28 and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has pitched the idea of preventing seniors from being scammed by passing the "Stop scamming seniors act", forcing banks and telecom companies to use state of the art technology to detect scams.

Not only that, there will also be automatic blocking of seniors' accounts when there are suspicious transactions, and a 24-hour hold on high-risk transactions for seniors. There would also be active reporting to the public of how many scams have been stopped, while those who are convicted of these scams would be sentenced to at least one year, and up to five years in jail.

While these proposals are well-meaning, how would it all work?

Poilievre doesn't seem to understand that many scams don't originate from Canada but abroad and the nefarious ways they can "mistakenly" text someone and strike up a conversation and soon becomes a trusted friend. 

It's after months of daily contact that the scammer eventually begins the extraction of money for "investment", and by that point the victim is so driven by the dreams of becoming wealthy that they will do whatever it takes to transfer the funds to the scammer.

Some of these conversations aren't even in English or French. How to stop these scams in other languages?

And what if a senior is legitimately trying to purchase a big ticket item? They need to wait 24 hours before they can make the transaction? It makes them feel like children.

In addition, it would be so hard for banks and telecom companies to detect scams -- while there are some bank tellers who are alert and flag customers who come in asking to transfer large amounts of money with strange requests, a lot of funds are transferred through setting up crypto accounts or online transfers. 

We could do with fewer spam calls and texts, but it's harder to crack down on scammers than Poilievre thinks and to educate seniors to be on alert...

Kidnapped Actor Reveals Shady Scam Centres in Myanmar

Wang (right) was rescued from Myanmar on January 7

The disappearance and subsequent rescue of a Chinese actor has shone a spotlight on the shady scam centres that have proliferated along the Thai-Myanmar border.

Wang Xing, 22, went to Thailand on January 3 on the promise of film work, but was driven 500km to a scam centre in Mae Sot, where his head was shaved and was trained to make scam calls, also known as "pig-butchering scams" to persuade victims to part with a lot of their money through text messages.

After not hearing from him for days, Wang's girlfriend went online begging for help, and after it was reposted by some famous Chinese actors, the Chinese authorities stepped in, and Wang was rescued on January 7. He returned to China on January 10, but not before thanking the Chinese and Thai authorities, but said nothing about how he was rescued.

He was held in a scam centre like this one

His swift return is not like the thousands of other people who were also lured to Thailand with promises of work, but were then swiftly kidnapped and taken across the border to places like Myanmar and Cambodia where they have been forced to scam people around the world, around the clock. 

There have been stories from former "prisoners" that if they don't perform these scams they are physically beaten and given little food, and it's near impossible to escape these camps. Only a handful of people have managed to escape and lived to tell their horrific experiences.

When news broke of Wang's rescue and return, families of other Chinese nationals started a petition to have the authorities also rescue their loved ones. Initially there were 174 cases, and now there are more than 600.

"We are desperate to know if the remaining Chinese nationals [who were] with him have been rescued," wrote one commenter on Weibo. "Other people's lives are also lives."

Wang had said there were about 50 other people who were held together with him.

Wang thought he had film work in Thailand

However, Beijing has not said whether it will follow up on these other cases, while the Thai government is keen to reassure Chinese tourists that Thailand is safe, as it relies heavily on visitors from China.

Wang is extremely lucky to have a persistent girlfriend, and for the internet community to clamour for the Chinese authorities to do something. But what about the rest of these people from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore who are essentially imprisoned and forced to scam innocent victims? 

It is believed these scam centres that get victims' money from cryptocurrencies and money transfers are run by Chinese syndicates, so why doesn't Beijing want to crack down on them? Surely it wants to protect its own citizens, who believed a job overseas could bring in money when they couldn't find work in China?

There are more questions than answers, but in the meantime Wang's harrowing story serves not only as a warning to others, but also helps bring more attention to scam centres in Southeast Asia and how they trick people into handing over millions of dollars.