ANDY GREENBERG LILY HAY NEWMAN MATT BURGESS THE BIG STORY JAN 27, 2026 6:00 AM Revealed: Leaked Chats Expose the Daily Life of a Scam Compound’s Enslaved Workforce A whistleblower trapped inside a “pig butchering” scam compound gave WIRED a vast trove of its internal materials—including 4,200 pages of messages that lay out its operations in unprecedented detail. PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: WIRED STAFF; GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF MOHAMMAD MUZAHIR JUST BEFORE 8AM one day last April, an office manager who went by the name Amani sent out a motivational message to his colleagues and subordinates. “Every day brings a new opportunity—a chance to connect, to inspire, and to make a difference,” he wrote in his 500-word post to an office-wide WhatsApp group. “Talk to that next customer like you're bringing them something valuable—because you are.” You’ve read your last free article. The intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to 5 all-new premium newsletters—cancel anytime. START FREE TRIAL Already a subscriber? Sign In The intersection of technology, power, and culture. Start your free trial and get access to 5 all-new premium newsletters START FREE TRIAL You Might Also Like In your inbox: Sign up for our new Tracker: ICE newsletter TikTok now collects even more of your data Big Story: ICE pretends it’s a military force, but it would get soldiers killed Microdosing for depression works about as well as drinking coffee Watch: We raced in exoskeletons to see if they actually help Written by WIRED Staff TOPICS LONGREADS CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS CHINA CRIME Get The Big Story in Your Inbox The most ambitious, future-defining stories from our favorite writers. SIGN UP By signing up, you agree to our user agreement (including class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and acknowledge our privacy policy. READ MORE ‘I’m Witnessing a Lot of Emptiness’: How ICE Uprooted Normal Life in Minneapolis WIRED talks to a postal worker, a teacher, two US citizens detained by federal agents, and six more Minnesota residents about life in an occupied American city. KATIE THORNTON ICE Agents Are ‘Doxing’ Themselves The alleged risks of being publicly identified have not stopped DHS and ICE employees from creating profiles on LinkedIn, even as Kristi Noem threatens to treat revealing agents’ identities as a crime. MADDY VARNER He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story. ANDY GREENBERG Why Minnesota Can’t Do More to Stop ICE Democratic lawmakers have few options that wouldn’t trigger something like civil war. GARRETT M. GRAFF Meta Is Blocking Links to ICE List on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads Users of Meta’s social platforms can no longer share links to ICE List, a website listing what it claims are the names of thousands of DHS employees. DAVID GILBERT How AI Companies Got Caught Up in US Military Efforts Two years ago, companies like Meta and OpenAI were united against military use of their tools. Now all of that has changed. NICK SRNICEK Why ICE Can Kill With Impunity Over the past decade, US immigration agents have shot and killed more than two dozen people. Not a single agent appears to have faced criminal charges. LILA HASSAN The State-Led Crackdown on Grok and xAI Has Begun At least 37 attorneys general for US states and territories are taking action against xAI after Grok generated a flood of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors. MADDY VARNER ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy rules. MADDY VARNER FBI Agent’s Sworn Testimony Contradicts Claims ICE’s Jonathan Ross Made Under Oath The testimony also calls into question whether Ross failed to follow his training during the incident in which he reportedly shot and killed Minnesota citizen Renee Good. TIM MARCHMAN Meta Seeks to Bar Mentions of Mental Health—and Zuckerberg’s Harvard Past—From Child Safety Trial The trial starts soon in New Mexico’s case against Meta—and the company is pulling out all the stops to protect its reputation. LAUREN GOODE Roblox’s AI-Powered Age Verification Is a Complete Mess Kids are being identified as adults—and vice versa—on Roblox, while age-verified accounts are already being sold online. DAVID GILBERT