The Fight of My Life

"Piece by piece, the layers of protection around Ruby are pulled away. It is into this space that the message arrives on Facebook."

It all begins with a greeting from an unknown woman over Facebook, offering sixteen year-old Ruby a job in a computer shop. 

Full of hopes and expectations of a better life, and wanting to escape from the pain of her very recent past, Ruby journeys across the sea to the cit...

Ruby is caught in the online sex trafficking den. The days are gruelling but she is determined to escape.

When Ruby arrives at the house in Pampanga, the lady who first reached out to her is nowhere to be seen.

The next morning, she comes face to face with her ‘boss,’ Nadine. Ruby tells her immediately that she wants to get out.  Nadine explains that Ruby must work to pay back her travel costs. But there’s a cat...

"Who exactly is on the other side of the webcam? We come face to face with the kind of men exploiting Ruby. "

Just who are these perpetrators who commit this heinous crime, and why? This episode opens a little differently: from the point of view of an overseas perpetrator. If we want to combat this crime, we need to understand something about those who commit it.

We rejoin Ruby as she attempts for the fi...

"Light breaks into the darkness. A painstaking investigation leads to the rescue of Ruby and the other girls."

Listeners are given behind the scenes access to how a rescue operation is built–and spoiler–it isn’t all busting down doors!

We travel alongside Attorney Rey of International Justice Mission as he works alongside Philippines police to gain access to the house Ruby and the girls are trapped in,...

Episode 5 - The Trial: The fight for justice now begins. Ruby’s perpetrators belong behind bars, but their lawyer will do anything to stop that from happening.

Ruby and the girls from the house are brought to the DSWD for safekeeping while the criminal trial against the perpetrators  is prepared.

Ruby’s fierce young lawyer, Attorney Kath of IJM, AKA ‘The Dainty Dragon’ is introduced for the first time, and we le...

Episode 6 - The Triumph: Bitterness and anger well up in Ruby as she tries to move on with her life. Can she overcome this and truly heal?

We open with Ruby’s dream. She is walking in a lush green field where she feels safe and free.

The dream echoes Psalm 23 and comes after Ruby and her social worker at the DSWD pray about Ruby moving to a new safe house in the country.

It is here, at the new house,  ...

Season 2 of the multi-award-winning podcast The Fight of My Life returns with Escaping Scam City—a six-part true crime series about love, deception, and survival inside Southeast Asia’s hidden scam compounds.

Season 2 of The Fight of My Life - Escaping Scam City delves into the alarming rise of forced scamming, exploring what has been termed the "pig butchering epidemic and its global impact.

Produced as a six-episode immersive ...

Season 2 of the multi-award-winning podcast The Fight of My Life returns with Escaping Scam City—a six-part true crime series about love, deception, and survival inside Southeast Asia’s hidden scam compounds.

Young couple Micah and Ava apply for what they think is a dream job in Cambodia. Ava arrives first and realises it’s in fact a scamming factory, targeting people overseas like you and me. She warns Micah not to come, but he dec...

**Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence. Listener discretion is advised.**

Trapped with Ava in a heavily guarded compound, Micah learns that escaping won’t be as easy as he thought. He forms a daring plan, but when he sees other workers brutally punished and beaten, knows he’s taking a major risk. Even still, he acts.

PLUS: we fly to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, to follow Micah’s footsteps and see for ourselves ...

Micah is sold to another scam center, bigger and more brutal than the last. Tasers. Dark rooms. So-called “suicides,” and co-workers who simply disappear. He’s close to giving up, when he stumbles upon a person on the internet, who might be his last hope of escape.

PLUS: We ask transnational crime expert - and show producer - Jacob “Jake” Sims (an American) why governments in Southeast Asia aren’t doing much to stop forced scamming.

...

We discover that the person Micah reached out to for help was none other than our producer Jake. The wheels for rescue are put into motion but the scam boss discovers that Micah has been asking for help, and calls him in to face the consequences.

PLUS: Americans lost $12.5 billion in 2024 alone to online scams. How is the government responding? The answer might surprise you.

Show website: fightofmylifepodcast.com

---

Here's that v...

Micah is finally free, but Ava is still trapped. When dramatically she does get released, instead of finding a joyful reunion, she’s handcuffed and charged as a criminal. Both Micah and Ava realize that though they’ve escaped Sihanoukville, there’s a long journey ahead to rebuilding their lives.

PLUS: What’s the connection between recent U.S. funding cuts, Chinese crime syndicates, and your bank account? And with hundreds of thousan...