‘Use Sosma against job scammers’

Scam grounds: Barbed wire fences are seen outside a shuttered compound where the local authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

PETALING JAYA: Drastic steps, such using preventive laws and screening youngsters going overseas, will cut down the number of Malaysians falling prey to overseas job scam syndicates, say community activists.These activists, who have rescued Malaysians duped by fake foreign job scams, said the authorities and the private sector should work together to take down advertisements linked to the syndicates and identify the Malaysians who post them.

“Although the syndicates are masterminded by foreigners, there are Malaysians who are in cahoots with them,” said MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong.

“I urge the police to trace and nab these accomplices of the syndicates who are locals and operate from Malaysia,” said Chong, who has been involved in several operations to rescue Malaysians duped by the syndicates.

“If they cannot be prosecuted due to lack of evidence, detain them under preventive laws such as Sosma (Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012) or Poca (Prevention of Crime Act 1959),” he told The Star.

Chong said he has received calls and texts from Malaysians trapped overseas in these scams, although the overall numbers are declining.

Almost all of those who contacted Chong are being forced to perform either love or investment scams.

“I told them to either run to Malaysian companies or the Malaysian embassy to seek refuge. Myanmar and Thailand are the two countries where these scams are still active. It is very difficult to escape from these syndicates,” he said.

His suggestions follow a report in The Star on Tuesday quoting police as saying that there are 135 Malaysians who remain trapped overseas, mainly in Myanmar, after being duped into fake jobs. About 261 of them have been rescued since 2021.

On Friday, police Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that between January and last month, police had arrested 1,160 people in 148 raids on scam call centres nationwide.

Among those held are 791 Malaysians and 300 Chinese nationals, while the rest were from 17 other countries.

Another activist who has performed rescues, Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim, said border checkpoints should start vetting young Malaysians travelling overseas.

“Often, the tell-tale signs of potential victims are that they are aged under 30, traveling alone and have no previous history of travelling overseas,” said Hishamuddin, who is Malaysian International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general.

“They may also have very little money on them or in their bank accounts,” he said.

Officials manning these checkpoints should identify, advise and warn these youngsters that they could be walking into a trap.

“This might sound extreme, but it can be done to avoid bigger problems in the future.”

Hishamuddin estimates that there are at least 1,000 Malaysians overseas who are working in these scams either against or of their own free will.

Asst Prof Dr Sharon Wilson of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) said stringent laws should be enforced on misleading information and suspicious business activities.

She said anyone promoting deceptive content online should be promptly investigated.

“Both government agencies such as the Foreign Ministry and embassies should work with banks and telecommunication companies to prevent scams and not work in silos,” said Wilson, who heads UTAR’s Centre for Media and Communication Research.She added that awareness campaigns about foreign job scams should also be intensified and include information on how to spot fake job advertisements.