KUALA LUMPUR: When Wong Sim Huat (not his real name) saw an advertisement on Facebook about a job in Cambodia that promised a salary of up to RM15,000 (US$3,300) per month, he did not think twice about signing up.
At that time, Wong had been jobless for over a year as the COVID-19 pandemic caused him to lose his previous job as a shopkeeper in Kluang, Johor.
“It was very hard to look for a proper job at the time and the advertisement said I didn’t need to take out a single cent to get to Cambodia,” the 32-year-old told CNA.
Instead of taking a flight to Cambodia from Kuala Lumpur, Wong was told to go to the town of Sungai Golok in Kelantan which borders Thailand.
From Sungai Golok, he entered Thailand illegally via a boat. Later, he and six other Malaysians got into a vehicle that crossed into Cambodia illegally.
After a few days, they were brought to a place that resembled a big casino. In the same building, there were also offices on the higher floors. There were many others from Vietnam, China, Thailand as well as Malaysia at the facility.
As it turned out, this was not the high-paying job that Wong had applied for. They were held against their will and forced to scam people on the Internet.
“We were told to work until late at night. If we could not cheat at least one person every week, we would get beaten and tasered. I used to get tasered about three times a week,” he told CNA.
Anybody who wanted to be released had to pay a sum of RM50,000.
Eventually, he managed to contact Malaysian Chinese Association’s (MCA) Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong via Whatsapp. Through arrangements made with the embassy and Cambodian authorities, Wong was eventually rescued without ransom.
All in all, he was in the hands of four syndicates for almost a month before he was rescued by the police and transferred to the immigration depot, where he was detained for about three months.
Wong is among the Malaysians who have fallen for “high-paying” jobs overseas that turned out to be scams.
News about these scams started emerging in the middle of last year. The syndicates generally use social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to advertise high-paying jobs overseas.
Once the victims are lured overseas and held against their will at these scam compounds, they are then taught and forced to cheat people online.
The types of scams include crypto romance scams, fraudulent online investments and phishing attacks, according to the Global Anti Scam Organisation (GASO).
The victims’ travel documents and phones are usually seized by the syndicates. They are not allowed to leave the buildings or compounds and are forced to work for up to 15 hours a day.
Those who do not play ball with the scammers would find themselves beaten, starved and sold to other syndicates, according to GASO, which is a non-profit organisation.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarhorn said in a statement on Aug 26 that human trafficking victims who were duped into working for online scam companies in Cambodia were experiencing a living hell, often resulting in torture and even death.
“Countries are now waking up to the phenomenon and Cambodia needs to activate counter-measures more strongly, while welcoming international cooperation and support,” he said.
Most of the cases in Cambodia have been reported in Sihanoukville, a city that has seen nearly 100 Chinese-owned casinos built in the past few years, transforming the face of the city. Cambodia has taken some steps to crack down on the scam operations.
Besides Cambodia, cases of Malaysian citizens being scammed in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos have also been reported.