Malaysian job scam victims still stuck in Cambodia after more than a month

PHNOM PENH: After more than a month escaping from their handlers, seven Malaysians who fell victim to human traffickers are still languishing in a Cambodian Immigration centre.

The seven – five from Sarawak – who arrived in Cambodia to work in casinos but duped into cybercrime activities are being held at the Sihanoukville Immigration Centre and are anxious to return to Malaysia.

The group, including five females, ended up working as scammers for online syndicates in the coastal city.

“We escaped from our employers 41 days ago. We managed to get a handphone to contact the local police and we were rescued by the Immigration Department in Sihanoukville,” said one of the victims.

The victim, in her 20s, spoke to Bernama today from her detention centre, when she was given a mobile phone to order lunch for her fellow Malaysians.

She said two of her friends are being moved to a separate holding facility but she was unable to provide further details.

“In a day, the officers give us the phone twice to order our lunch and dinner. They are friendly but communication is a problem. We have contacted the embassy (in Phnom Penh),” she said.

Agents in Malaysia offered lucrative job opportunities to lure these victims to work in Cambodian casinos, promising them salaries in US dollar, free food, lodging and all-paid travel.

However, their job scope changed and they ended up working in scam call centres in Sihanoukville since their arrival in May this year.

The bustling seaside province has become a notorious hub for online scam activities operated by transnational criminals despite actions by law enforcers.

“They offered us RM4,000 salary a month plus food, lodging and flight, and we were promised jobs in the casinos. But when we arrived, we ended up working in scam activities.

“We could not contact our agents because they deleted their telegram accounts and now, we are stuck here. They (authorities) told us we had broken Cambodian laws but we did not commit any crime, we were cheated and brought to Cambodia,” she said.

Sarawak United People’s Party public complaints bureau chief Milton Foo told Bernama Sunday morning that he has contacted the Malaysian embassy in Phnom Penh and paperwork is pending approval from the relevant Cambodian authorities for them to return to Malaysia.

“We have sent an appeal letter to the embassy and they are working for their release. Few in the group are Muslims and it is difficult to get (halal) food,” said Foo.

Human traffickers are using Cambodia as a hub for a variety of cybercrime activities, ranging from online scamming to illegitimate money lending and internet gaming.

The number of young Malaysians falling victim to fraudulent job offers has been rising post-COVID and the Malaysian embassy has assisted in repatriating dozens of them.

But the arrival of such victims in search of lucrative jobs continues unabated.