Job scam: Mother desperately hoping to reunite with son believed trapped in Myanmar

KUANTAN: A mother is desperately trying to reunite with her son, who is believed to have become a victim of a job scam in Myanmar.

Loke Chooi Tip, 55, said her youngest son, Koh Sheng Yur, 19, had told her that he was leaving their home in Pekan to work in Kuala Lumpur on April 6.

"My son just said he received a job offer from a cryptocurrency company. I told him that kind of job was unsuitable for him but he was stubborn and left with his friend.

"He stayed in contact with me until April 13 when I suddenly could no longer get in touch with him," she said on Friday (May 13).

Loke said a friend of her son later called to tell her that Koh was asking for RM60,000 so he could leave Thailand.

"I was shocked. I do not know how my son could have gotten into Thailand because I have his passport. This friend of my son said he had entered through the Kelantan-Thailand border.

"On April 15, I received a call from my son saying that he wanted to go home. He sounded distressed. A man took over the phone and said my son was safe but must pay up if he wanted to leave.

"I heard this man scolding my son for crying. When I got to talk to my son again, I told him to contact his elder brother. He managed to send out a geolocation which appears to be in Myanmar," she said.

Loke said she had not been able to talk to her son since but there would be messages sent periodically assuring that he was alright.

"His phone may have been confiscated and someone else may be sending those messages. Still, it gives me a little hope that my son is safe," she said.

At wit's end and worried sick for her son, Loke lodged a police report and then sought help from Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang.

Sim said the geolocation placed Koh in Lay Lay Kaw in Myanmar.

"From the satellite view, the place looks to be a guarded compound. We suspect it is being run by a syndicate targeting Malaysians of Chinese descent for their language capabilities.

"There may be more trafficking victims at this compound," he said.

Sim urged Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah to get to action immediately as there had been many reports of similar cases.

"Young people also need to be cautious. Many of those advertisements promising easy jobs for fast money are too good to be true and they will just end up falling into a trap," said Sim.

As for Loke, the mother of four's only wish now is to have her son back by her side.

"I also hope the government and the authorities can do something about these cases. I do not want other mothers to go through what I am going through now," she said.