Three more job scam victims repatriated from Myanmar

SEPANG: Three job scam victims who fell victim to a human trafficking syndicate in Myanmar returned to Malaysia on Tuesday (Jan 17).

The three victims - Syafinaz Abdullah, 19; Muhammad Hafiz Mazlan, 26; and Sim Yong Fei, 33 - arrived in Malaysia from Bangkok at 11.55am Tuesday.

They were assisted and accompanied by Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang.

Syafinaz and Muhammad Hafiz were rescued from the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy with the assistance of the Thai army and were later brought to Thailand via the land border.

Yong Fei, on the other hand, had escaped to Thailand.

Muhammad Hafiz and Syafinaz, who are friends, were lured with the offer of a forex marketing job and the promise of a salary of RM4,000 – only to realise that their actual job was to carry out scam activities via fraudulent advertisements and applications.

"We went to Thailand via Golok," he said when met by reporters at the KL International Airport on Tuesday (Jan 17).

He said the trip to Myanmar was made via land.

He added that Syafinaz and him were driven to Thailand by a driver.

Syafinaz said they had to hit a certain daily target which could be up to RM30,000. Failing to do so would result in them being punished by the syndicate. The punishments, she said, could include squats.

"Food would be delayed if we could not hit our target,” she said, adding that they were sleep deprived as they had to work from morning until midnight.

"Phones were seized as soon as we got there and when we left we were not paid our salaries and could not get our phones back," she said.

She said the scam activities were conducted via applications and included maid services, cars and cleaning services.

Tearing up, Syafinaz said she had been ridden by fear over the punishment and thanked those who helped her return to Malaysia.

"We were threatened that we had to eat pork, rat and women were given rape threats," she added.

Meanwhile, Sim said he was working with a middleman Victor Wong to help the victims.

He added that he found out about the matter after being approached by Muhammad Hafiz’s parents.

He said the whole rescue process took about 12 days.

Sim said two more victims would be rescued and repatriated soon.