KUALA LUMPUR – Two men revealed that there were among the dozens of Malaysians who were held hostage by international scam syndicates to work as scammers in Cambodia.
They, who are currently being held hostage by two scam syndicates made the shocking revelation through a video call with the MCA Public Complaints Bureau Chief, Datuk Seri Michael Chong.
One of the victims claimed that there are about 50 Malaysians being locked up by various scam syndicates in that country.
The other victims alleged that 13 Malaysians including a woman is locked up by one of the syndicates in Cambodia.
He said, he started working in Cambodia about six months ago after being offered to work as telecommunications operator. According to him, the modus operandi of the syndicate was by offering lucrative salary to Malaysians.
“We entered here (Cambodia) using illegal entrance although we were promised permit and will be flying in initially.
“There are about 29 victims here from other countries too. 13 are from Malaysia. If we don’t manage to scam people, we will be locked up in a room and not given food,” he told Michael without revealing his name and age.
They were not merely hold hostage, the two men were allegedly beaten and not given food if they fail to hit the target set by the scammers.
One of the hostages who contacted Michael also alleged that the syndicate threatened to rape the only female hostage there.
Elaborating further, the victims were under tight control by the syndicate thus, the Malaysians could not escape.
“How can we run? We are being watched closely. There are people watching over us every day. We cannot run to the Malaysian Embassy. Besides that, we don’t have the work permit. This is an offence here,” he added.
Therefore, the victims hoped that the authorities could rescue them immediately.
Meanwhile, Michael also urged the police to investigate the matter and save the Malaysians in that country.
“I contacted the Inspector-General of Police (Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani) yesterday and he promised to solve this problem,” he said.
Meanwhile, the MCA Public Complaints Bureau Chief also advised the youths not to be easily tricked by foreign job offers without clear procedures.
“Check the job offer first if the company truly exists or not,” he said.
Recently, the Malaysia Royal Police (PDRM) said that six reports have been received on Malaysians becoming victims of human trafficking and forced labour in several countries from 2021 until last March.
The Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department Director Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan said that the reports involved 26 victims (24 males and 2 females) who were tricked and exploited to work in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Kemboja. -MalaysiaGazette
