Malaysia rescues 403 victims of job scam syndicates in neighbouring countries, trying to trace another 169

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia has rescued 403 of its citizens in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand who were reported to be victims of job scam syndicates, with 169 other people still "being traced".

In an update to parliament on Tuesday (Feb 21), Deputy Foreign Minister Mohamad Alamin said that 382 of the victims had been returned to Malaysia, with another 21 being held at a detention depot, news agency Bernama reported.

The authorities are trying to trace the other 169 Malaysians who were reported to have been lured to the countries by the job scam syndicates, he added.

Mr Mohamad Alamin was responding to a parliamentary question on what steps were being taken to protect Malaysians who have become victims of scams abroad, especially in Myanmar.

Officials at Malaysia’s embassies in the four countries had held meetings with the authorities in the respective countries to locate and rescue the Malaysians, he said.

The officials had also provided consular assistance to help them get home, with repatriation costs to be paid by the victims' families.

In September last year, a statement by the Malaysia’s foreign ministry said that it had received a total of 301 reports of people trapped by suspected cybercrime rackets and job scams in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Victims of the rackets said that they were lured into one of the countries, Cambodia, by promises of high-paying jobs at casinos and hotels but were forced to live in compounds and to defraud online users with internet romances and cryptocurrency schemes, the ministry said then.

At that time, 168 people of the 301 were rescued, 34 were being held in immigration detention and 99 more were still being traced.

Based on the figures provided on Tuesday by Mr Mohamad Alamin, the total number of reported scam victims has since almost doubled to 572.

SINGAPORE MONITORING POTENTIAL TRAFFICKING OF SCAM VICTIMS

In October last year, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said that the Singapore police were monitoring the potential human trafficking of scam victims who are lured by scam syndicates to "work" in neighbouring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

In a written reply to a parliamentary question, Mr Shanmugam said that a report had been filed involving potential Singapore victims kept against their will in Myanmar to work for scam syndicates there.

However, this report was based on second-hand information. The Singapore police referred the report to the authorities in Myanmar for assistance.

Mr Shanmugam added that Singapore takes part in various regional efforts to discuss cooperation on combating transnational crime, including scams and human trafficking, and will continue to work closely with other countries to address these issues.