KUCHING, March 1 — A total of 326 Malaysians who are victims of overseas job syndicates have been rescued from 2021 to February 23 this year, said Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department deputy director (Investigation/Legal) Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa.
However, the remaining 133 victims are still stranded in foreign countries as of February 23.
“During the same period, the police received 354 reports of job scams involving 459 victims.
“Most cases involved job scams in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. Based on a study, 73 per cent of the victims ended up working as scammers, 12 per cent in customer service, eight per cent in casinos, and seven per cent as cooks or other jobs,” he said.
Rusdi was speaking to the press after the 2024 Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007 Enforcement Course for Sabah and Sarawak Zone today.
He added that one of the main factors driving victims to work abroad was the lure of lucrative salary offers for victims who had lost their income sources.
“The current trend is for these victims to be influenced and deceived by job adverts on social sites, including Facebook.
“Initially, victims were offered jobs as customer service officers at investment companies or licensed casinos, and some were also offered jobs at holiday resorts.
“Then, when they arrived in the target countries, they were forced to work as scammers, for example, by scamming people online for non-existent investments, and also love scams,” Rusdi said.
— Bernama
