FreedomFest 2026

“Scam Slave: From Hell to Home” follows Gideon Mwesezi, a young man from an impoverished village in Uganda who accepts a data-entry job in Thailand. The job promises $1,200 a month and the chance to support his family. But when Gideon arrives in Bangkok, he discovers the job was a lie. Instead, he is trafficked across the border into Myanmar and forced into a scam compound tied to the global “pig butchering” industry. There, workers scam victims through fake romance and investment schemes. Inside, Gideon discovers thousands of trafficked workers from dozens of countries held through violence, threats, and psychological coercion. As Gideon struggles to survive torture, imprisonment, and isolation, his story reveals that modern-day slavery is fueling one of the fastest-growing criminal economies on earth. Tens of thousands remain enslaved inside these scam compounds, fighting daily to survive in hopes that one day they can make it. African activist and entrepreneur Magatte Wade joins the Q&A.