No longer a slave to the job scam

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 261 Malaysian victims who had fallen victim to job scam syndicates and were stranded in Cambodia have been rescued.

The Foreign Ministry said 171 victims are already back in Malaysia and the remaining 90 were waiting for the completion of their repatriation process, reported Bernama.

The Foreign Ministry said it and Malaysian diplomatic missions in the countries involved were committed to establishing a close cooperative relationship with the governments of these countries to intensify efforts to locate, rescue and bring home safely Malaysian citizens who are victims of such syndicates.

“The public is advised to immediately lodge a report with the police and contact the Foreign Ministry if any of their family members fall victim to job scam syndicates offering employment abroad.

“The Foreign Ministry is always committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of Malaysian families abroad,” it said in a statement yesterday.

On Sept 27, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah chaired the first meeting of a special committee, held online, to deal with issues concerning these job scam syndicates.

The meeting was attended by nine other ministries or agencies: the Prime Minister’s Department; Attorney General’s Chambers; Home Ministry; the police force; Immigration Department; Communications and Multimedia Ministry; Human Resources Ministry; Youth and Sports Ministry, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Among the proposals and actions that have been and will be implemented are holding a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions of the countries involved on Sept 30.

The heads of diplomatic missions have expressed the commitment of their respective governments to provide close cooperation in dealing with this issue.

The heads of Malaysian diplomatic missions in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have also been asked to keep trying to resolve this issue quickly and thoroughly.

The Foreign Ministry and the police are also coordinating efforts to enable closer cooperation between the police force and the authorities of the countries concerned via special meetings.

The Foreign Ministry has held discussions with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry to prepare a more comprehensive communication plan to provide exposure and awareness to the public and target groups so that they are not deceived or trapped by these syndicates.