Indians forced to Work in Cambodian Cyber-Scam Factories

Hundreds of Indian nationals have been rescued from Cambodian cyber-scam factories, where they were forced to run online scams.

Indian Nationals rescued from Cambodian Cyber-Scam Factories f

They are promised jobs but are then lured into illegal online work

So far, the Indian government has rescued 250 citizens who were forced to work in Cambodian cyber-scam factories.

According to India’s foreign ministry, they were promised jobs but were “forced to undertake illegal cyber work”.

Reportedly, more than 5,000 Indians stuck in Cambodia were forced to operate cyber-fraud schemes.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the globe are estimated to have fallen victim to job scams in Southeast Asia.

The victims are mostly young and tech-savvy.

They are promised jobs but are then lured into illegal online work ranging from money laundering and crypto fraud to love scams, where they pose as lovers online.

In August 2023, a UN report stated that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar, and another 100,000 in Cambodia, were forced into operating cyber-fraud schemes.

This is the latest in a series of rescues in Southeast Asia.

In March 2024, police rescued hundreds of people from a scam centre in the Philippines where they were forced to dupe people by expressing romantic interest online under a fake identity.

A few weeks before that, China repatriated hundreds of its citizens from scam centres in Myanmar.

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of India’s foreign ministry, said that the country was working closely with Cambodian authorities to “crack down on those responsible for these fraudulent schemes”.

In the past three months, India said 75 people have been rescued. However, the timeline for the rest remains unclear.

Indian media previously reported that India’s embassy in Phnom Penh had received 130 complaints of Indians being held in Cambodia against their will.

They were among thousands of others who were allegedly forced to scam people in India or in some cases, extort money from them by pretending to be law enforcement officials.

Victims in India had been conned out of a total of at least £47 million in the past six months.

Another report stated that an official in India’s embassy in Cambodia said that they received approximately five complaints every day on average from people trapped in Cambodia after being offered jobs.

One of the rescued men, identified only as Stephen, claimed that he was recruited by an agent from the southern Indian city of Mangaluru and offered a data entry job in Cambodia.

After reaching the country, he says he was asked to create fake social media accounts with photographs of women and use them to contact people.

Lead Editor Dhiren is our news and content editor who loves all things football. He also has a passion for gaming and watching films. His motto is to "Live life one day at a time".




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