Z — IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, MESSAGE SARAHZ — 如遇紧急情况，请给Sarah留言。
ZProject Z Initiative

A true story. An active mission.

One question changed
the story.

“Are you there willingly?”

Project Z began when a Houston risk-management executive tried to scam a romance scammer—and discovered that the man behind the profile had been trafficked into a criminal compound in Myanmar and forced to run online scams.

Fund Z’s Rescue Enter TC3 Watchtower About the scam Read the book

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve already done something many people never do:

You looked.

WATCH / LATEST STATUS UPDATE

Latest update on Z’s status.

Sarah Potts shares the most recent update on Z’s status, why the situation remains urgent, and what Project Z is asking people to understand, share, and do next.

Fund Z’s Rescue Enter TC3 Watchtower
01 / THE STORY

She tried to expose a scammer. She found a prisoner.

In September 2025, Sarah Potts recognized a familiar romance-scam script and decided to reverse it. The man calling himself “Karl” was supposed to be an Austrian businessman. The language, behavior, and evidence told a different story.

After months of questioning, he said he had been recruited for a job in Thailand, transported at gunpoint into Myanmar, and forced to run online scams. Sarah called him Z. What followed was an independent effort to verify his account, warn potential victims, preserve evidence, engage authorities, and pursue a path to freedom.

The story is extraordinary. The system behind it is not. Scam compounds across Southeast Asia use deception, forced labor, and violence to industrialize fraud against people around the world.

EXHIBIT 01NAME / Z
Message exchange in which the man asks to be called Z
The moment “Karl” became Z. Reproduced from The Man Called Z.
Aerial view of a large compound beside a river

READ / ABOUT THE SCAM

Behind the screen may be another victim.

Sarah’s article explains how fraudulent job offers, armed guards, forced labor, and organized crime converge inside Myanmar’s scam compounds—and why the person sending the message may also be a prisoner.

Read the full article

READ / FIELD GUIDE

38 Minutes to Freedom.

A practical, step-by-step guide to recognizing a potential scam-compound trafficking victim, developing an actionable case, and placing it in the hands of people equipped to bring them home.

Read the full guide
What if you could help free someone over lunch?

DOCUMENTED IN THE BOOK

A two-person effort against an industrial operation.

The figures below describe the cases Sarah and Z encountered—not the full scale of the criminal network.

~75potential scam victims identified
$8M+in pending transfers connected to those cases
1question that turned suspicion into action

02 / OUR WORK

Find the victims. Stop the scams. Bring people home.

Project Z identifies people who may be trapped inside scam compounds, warns the people being targeted, preserves evidence for investigators, and helps connect trafficking survivors with a path to safety.

Shwe Kokko scam complex in Myawaddy, Myanmar, seen from Thailand
01

Identify

Recognize people who may be operating under coercion and connect information that otherwise remains fragmented.

KK Park scam compound in Myanmar seen across fields from Thailand
02

Protect

Help potential fraud victims understand what is happening before more money—or their financial future—disappears.

Moei River along the Thailand–Myanmar border
03

Support

Connect trafficking survivors and people seeking freedom with credible expertise, resources, and organizations.

Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge connecting Mae Sot and Myawaddy
04

Disrupt

Preserve actionable evidence, report criminal activity, and make secrecy harder for organized networks to maintain.

Photographs: Shwe Kokko by Angshuman Choudhury (CC BY-SA 4.0); KK Park by Maisoong (CC BY 4.0); Moei River by Manop (CC BY-SA 3.0); Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge by Lerdsuwa (CC BY-SA 3.0). Images cropped for presentation.

03 / HOW YOU CAN HELP

You do not need a badge to be useful.

The people who have made the greatest difference contributed the expertise, access, judgment, or attention they already possessed.

IMMEDIATE PRIORITY

Help bring Z home.

Your contribution supports the effort to secure Z’s freedom and safe passage. Funds raised beyond the amount required to bring Z home will support efforts to help other Tai Chang III victims return safely to their families.

Fund Z’s Rescue
PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE

Bring what you know.

Journalists, investigators, financial-crimes analysts, cryptocurrency specialists, OSINT researchers, attorneys, translators, intelligence professionals, and cybersecurity experts can contribute directly.

Offer your expertise
INFORMATION

Preserve the evidence.

Keep usernames, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, phone numbers, screenshots, photographs, and dates. A small detail can become a critical part of a larger investigation.

Review reporting options
SURVIVOR SUPPORT

Support people doing the work.

Organizations on the ground need donations, volunteers, and professional help to assist people emerging from scam compounds.

Visit Acts of Mercy International
AWARENESS

Talk about this.

Tell people that romance scams may be the product of forced labor. The person behind the keyboard can be both a perpetrator and a victim.

Share by email

04 / REPORT WHAT YOU KNOW

Document first. Then report.

If you believe you encountered a victim, a person scamming under duress, or information that could assist an investigation, preserve the original records. Do not confront suspected traffickers or take actions that could put someone inside a compound at greater risk.

Usernames and phone numbersWallet addresses and transaction hashesOriginal screenshots and photographsDates, times, platforms, and URLs
FRAUD OR CYBERCRIMEFile an IC3 complaintTAI CHANG INFORMATIONEmail the FBI tip linePROJECT ZContact Sarah

Project Z Initiative is not law enforcement or an emergency-response service. If someone is in immediate danger, contact the appropriate local emergency authority.

Book cover of The Man Called Z, a true story by Sarah Potts

THE BOOK THAT STARTED THE INITIATIVE

The Man Called Z

At 2:52 in the morning, out of nothing more than boredom and questionable decision-making, a risk-management executive decides to scam a romance scammer. She does not expect to stumble into an international human-trafficking operation.

The book documents Sarah and Z’s effort to identify potential victims, interfere with active scams, engage law enforcement, and pursue a way out. One hundred percent of the author’s proceeds from the book support Project Z.

Buy on Amazon

ISBN-13 979-8-234-16589-3 · Fountainhead Publishing

Sarah Potts

ABOUT SARAH

The rogue Texan behind Project Z.

Sarah Potts is a Houston-based risk-management professional specializing in multinational casualty, kidnap, ransom and extortion, and Defense Base Act coverage. She is Chief Underwriting Officer for Latitude Risk.

Her professional background helped her evaluate Z’s account, coordinate across borders, and keep asking questions long after the conventional channels had stalled.

Connect on LinkedIn

REFUSE TO LOOK AWAY

One person can make a difference.

Make a call. Share information. Connect people. Ask questions. Help turn one unfinished story into a different ending.

Fund Z’s Rescue Contact Sarah