Imagine this. You help your little brother land a great job abroad, but when he arrives, the job doesn't exist. Instead, he's trapped in a heavily guarded compound, forced to sit at a computer and scam innocent victims, while armed guards standby with shoot-to-kill orders.

Scam Factory, the explosive new true-crime podcast from Wondery, exposes a multi-billion-dollar criminal empire operating in plain sight.

Every suspicious text you ignore masks a vast network of compounds where thousands are held captive, forced to scam others under the threat of death.

Told through one family's harrowing account of sleepless nights,

desperate phone calls, and dangerous rescue attempts, scam factory reveals a brutal truth.

The only way out is to scam their way out. I'm about to play a clip from scam factory,

where one character, Jella, learns horrifying news while she's trapped inside the scam factory.

While you're listening, follow Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge all episodes of Scam Factory early and ad free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

Jella kept her eye on the clock,

counting down the minutes until 1 a.m.

And the end of her shift.

She couldn't wait to get to bed.

Jella and her teammates began to gather their things to leave.

But their team leader told them, not so fast.

Everyone needed to go out to the yard.

They just said that it was a meeting with the boss, the team leader, and the translator.

With the boss, the team leader, and the translators.

This was never good news.

Jell and her nine co-workers made their way outside.

The yard was kind of like a quad on a college campus.

Except with the guards around, it gave more prison yard vibes. They lined up, five in each row. Jella stood at the front of the line. She looked around.

...