The Fight of My Life: Escaping Scam City

Episode 4: The City of Falling Men
Date: June 2, 2025
Host: Rich Thompson, Cadence Productions

Episode Overview

In this harrowing installment, the series exposes life inside one of Southeast Asia’s most infamous scam compounds: Kaibo, grimly nicknamed “the city of falling men.” Through first-person testimony and investigative reporting, we follow Micah and Ava as they are torn apart and forced into different corners of Cambodia’s criminal underworld. The episode reveals the mechanics of forced labor schemes, the culture of violence and impunity, and the staggering collusion between criminal networks and powerful elites—including the Cambodian state itself. As the episode draws to a close, tension mounts with Micah plotting a daring new escape and making contact with activist Jake Sims, setting up a fight for survival that’s as much about exposing systems as saving individuals.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Betrayal and Negotiation at DV Casino ([00:08]–[03:19])

• Micah is accused of betraying leadership at the DV Casino scamming compound, leading to catastrophic fallout.
• He is surveilled and locked away; Ava is confronted by the boss who puts forth brutal choices:
  • Pay $11,000
  • Be “sold” to Vietnam
  • Remain at the compound essentially forever in exchange for sparing Micah.
• Ava: “If you stay here forever, then he wouldn't get beaten up. I didn't believe him, but I felt there was no choice.” ([02:54])
• Ava volunteers to stay so Micah may be sent elsewhere in hopes he’ll be safer.
• Memorable quote:
  • Ava: “I said I will willingly stay. And it's better that he goes to stay with your friend.” ([03:08])

2. Inside the Walls of Kaibo: Arrival & First Impressions ([04:31]–[09:59])

• Micah is transported to Kaibo, a sprawling walled compound housing an estimated 12,000–30,000 forced laborers.
• First impressions:
  • Vastness, heavy security, and prison-like atmosphere.
  • “Whole compound was around like 25 building... surround[ed by] the wire, kind of like prison wire.” ([06:37])
• Life inside:
  • Multiple work floors, conference rooms, bedrooms overcrowded with bunk beds, constant surveillance via CCTV.
  • Hidden “punishment floor” rumored for torture and beatings.
• Punishments are routine: “The third floor... is the punishment floor.” ([09:10])
  • “It's very normal. He said.” ([09:31])
• Escaping seems impossible; atmosphere is one of omnipresent fear.

3. The City of Falling Men – Life and Death at Kaibo ([11:47]–[15:44])

• Locally, Kaibo is called “the city of falling men” due to frequent deaths by suicide or failed escape attempts.
• First-hand account:
  • Guard recounts: “Yeah, sometime we arrested back recapture the people who have escaped. Some people die. Falling down, die. ” ([14:02])
• Journalist Dara: “On average, every week, there was a report of at least one person in Siannockville falling to their death... one week where a death was reported every single day.” ([14:36])
• Jake Sims underscores tragedy: “Just the ones that can't be covered up that make it into the news.” ([15:25])
• The compound is a 20,000-person open-air prison, shrouded in violence and despair.

4. Daily Life and Systemic Control ([15:44]–[22:43])

• Routine:
  • Wake-up, eat, forced group singing ([17:58]–[18:19])
  • Strict quotas; punishments (forced pushups, salary cuts for yawning, extended work hours)
• Micah: “If we didn't sing loudly, we will be like make the push up around 10 times.” ([18:26])
  • $50 docked for yawning three times ([18:40])
  • Daily targets mandatory; otherwise, workers forced to continue into the night ([19:54])
• Saturday “freedom”: Limited movement within compound to a faux “market” (barbershop, supermarket); purchases add to workers’ debt ([20:09])
• Social isolation: “I didn't make any friends because I can't trust anyone inside there.” ([21:24])
• Violence and torture:
  • Roommate publicly tortured with tasers, then disappeared for allegedly being sold or worse. ([21:49])
  • “They will be like selling to the...to the black market to sell the organ or something like that...bird...throw into the sea...” ([22:43])

5. Collapse of Hope and the Will to Escape ([23:07]–[24:32])

• Micah’s despair: “I really think that I never be came out again. I think I. I might be like die at there because in my mind I keep thinking that I don't want to scam any innocent people.” ([23:53])
• The emotional toll leads Micah to plan another desperate escape.

6. Systemic Corruption & Global Complicity ([27:02]–[35:00])

• Jason Tower and Jake Sims analyze how scam compounds like Kaibo persist through state collusion:
  • “There are elites in all of these countries that are directly partnering with the Chinese crime groups, with the Chinese mafia groups to make all this happen.” ([27:02]–[27:29])
  • “Cambodia...has given advisory positions and official titles to individuals that are effectively criminal kingpins.” ([27:29])
• Forced scamming is not unique to Cambodia (present in Laos, Myanmar, Africa, Dubai, etc.), but in Cambodia, scamming is estimated at $12 billion/year—almost half the GDP. ([29:03])
• A “landmark report” by Jake Sims, aired on Australia’s ABC, was referenced:
  • “Too big to fail.” ([29:57])
• Sims traces the deep historical roots: “The ruling party has specialized from day one in really predatory, extractive, often outright criminal industries...and effectively, when scamming came along, it supercharged all of this.” ([31:21])
• Hardline denial by state agencies, targeted repression of activists, and refusal to categorize forced scam labor as trafficking ([32:44], [33:23])

7. The Human Cost & Seeds of Resistance ([35:00]–[39:03])

• Encounter with Amir, a Pakistani worker trapped inside:
  • “What to do? This is our life.” ([35:00])
• Micah’s efforts to reach the outside:
  • Secretly searches for help online.
  • Eventually contacts Jake Sims via Twitter:
    • “We are being forced work as scammers in KB Chinatown in Cukville, Cambodia. Please rescue us and save us. Them Chinese kidnapped. Electronic shock, Human trafficking, beating imprisonment. We don't want work with them. Force us work as scammer. Rescue us as soon as help us for Jake.” ([38:13])
• Jake Sims: Hesitant but moved by the plea; acknowledges paranoia but decides to look deeper ([38:58])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ava, on bargaining for Micah’s life:
  “If you stay here forever, then he wouldn't get beaten up. I didn't believe him, but I felt there was no choice.” ([02:54])

• Micah, on the threat of being sold:
  “If you ask him to help, we will be sold you to the Myanmar. He told me that. And before you go to Myanmar, we will be like electric shot and then beaten you first. And we will lock you to the dark room until you've been sold.” ([17:25])

• Jake Sims, reporter and activist:
  “This industry scamming had become likely the government's biggest source of revenue. So this is the primary way that the ruling elite were supporting themselves, propping up their ruling strategy. And in a very real sense, this is the thing that was keeping them in power.” ([34:05])

• Jason Tower, regional crime expert:
  “Cambodia is one of the most egregious... actually has given advisory positions and official titles to individuals that are effectively criminal kingpins.” ([27:29])

• Micah, facing the loss of hope:
  "I really think that I never be came out again. I think I...might be like die at there because...I don't want to scam any innocent people." ([23:53])

• Amir, trapped worker:
  “What to do? This is our life.” ([35:00])

• Jake Sims, on the scope of the challenge:
  “It's easily the largest, most lucrative industry in the entire country, and that is way beyond the mandate of my former NGO, or any other NGO for that matter. It's...uncharted territory.” ([35:00])

Important Timestamps

• [02:54] Ava describes coercive choices to save Micah
• [14:02–15:31] Testimonies about escape attempts and deaths (“falling men”)
• [17:25] Micah details threats of being sold, electric shock, and dark room punishments
• [23:53] Micah’s emotional collapse and refusal to scam innocents
• [27:02, 27:29] Jason Tower on state collusion in forced scams
• [29:03] Cambodia’s scam industry size ($12 billion/year)
• [34:05] Jake Sims on scamming as state revenue
• [38:13] Micah’s direct plea for rescue to Jake Sims via Twitter

Tone & Takeaways

The episode is raw, compassionate, and investigative—showcasing firsthand the brutality, isolation, and hopelessness inside cyber scam compounds while never losing sight of the human stakes. The storytelling is interwoven with analysis on the international systems and criminal-political partnerships that enable such abuses. Through vivid details, personal struggles, and the first glimmers of resistance, the episode makes a chilling but urgent call to acknowledge—and act on—the reality faced by thousands trapped in forced scamming operations.

Listen to the next episode for the continuation of Micah's and Ava’s fight for freedom.