According to Chinese media, Peng Yuxuan, a 19-year-old Chinese student from Shaanxi Province, had just completed the national college entrance exams in June. Although his scores and university acceptance details have not been officially disclosed, it was reported that he passed the exam and had been accepted into college.
Looking to earn some money during his summer break, Peng responded to an online job ad promising easy work with high pay. He traveled to Xi’an, where he met a woman claiming to be a recruitment agent for streamers. Impressed by his appearance, she offered to cover his travel expenses and arranged a flight for him to Yunnan Province. Peng kept in touch with his best friend, Xiaojia, sharing updates and reassurances that he was safe and making money. However, his final known location was at the Meng’a border checkpoint, between China and Myanmar, on July 4. After that, all contact was lost.
A few days later, Peng’s mother received a call from an unknown man in Myanmar, sparking fears that her son had been trafficked. She alerted Chinese authorities, who began working with the Myanmar government to investigate.
According to Hongxing News, Peng was taken to more than 10 different locations before ending up in a telecom fraud compound in Myanmar. There, he was forcibly shaved and trained in scam techniques. However, his story took an unexpected turn when the crime ring’s leader noticed he was young and had just finished his university entrance exams. “He told me I had a bright future and didn’t belong there,” Peng recounted. “He said they made money with a conscience, so they let me go and told me to study hard and be filial to my parents.”
The gang then arranged for Peng to be escorted to the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an armed ethnic group in Myanmar. He was provided with food and medicine, then handed over to UWSA’s Judicial Committee, which contacted Chinese authorities.
On July 20, at the Meng’a border checkpoint, UWSA handed over 20 scam suspects and 29 rescued victims, including Peng, to Chinese officials. The story has captured widespread attention in China, garnering over 100 million views on social media. Many netizens expressed relief, but some remained skeptical of the gang leader’s motives. “He wasn’t being kind—just trying to reduce his own guilt,” one comment read.
Northern Myanmar has become a hub for cyber fraud operations, where an estimated 120,000 people were trafficked in 2023 to work in scam centers, according to the United Nations. These criminal networks often lure young people from neighboring countries with promises of easy jobs, only to subject them to confinement, threats, and abuse.
znews
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