KUCHING - A total of 326 Malaysians who are victims of overseas job syndicates have been rescued, from 2021 to Feb 23 this year, said Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department deputy director (Investigation/Legal), Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa.
He said that the remaining 133 victims, however, were still stranded in foreign countries, as of Feb 23.
"During the same period, the police received 354 reports of job scams, involving a total of 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.
He was speaking to reporters after the 2024 Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007 Enforcement Course for Sabah and Sarawak Zone, here, today.
He added that one of the main factors which drove victims to work abroad is the lure of lucrative salary offers for victims who have lost their source of income.
"The current trend is for these victims to be influenced and deceived by job adverts on social sites, such as 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,” he said. - BERNAMA