KUCHING: Since 2021, police have rescued 326 Malaysian job scam victims who were stranded overseas, says Federal CID deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa.
He said police received 354 reports on job scams involving a total of 459 victims from 2021 to Feb 23 this year.
"Of the total, 133 victims are still stranded overseas," he told a press conference after the closing ceremony of an enforcement course on the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 here on Friday (March 1).
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The course, attended by 48 senior police officers from Sabah and Sarawak, was officially closed by Sarawak police commissioner Comm Datuk Mancha Ata.
DCP Rusdi said Sarawak police received 54 reports involving 83 job scam victims over the same period.
He said 64 victims were rescued and brought back to Sarawak while 19 were still overseas.
"The victims mostly fell for fake job advertisements on social media offering jobs in casinos or resorts overseas.
"Upon arriving in the country, they ended up being forced to work as scammers among others," he said.
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DCP Rusdi said the most cases involved job scams in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, while several were in the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines.
Based on a study, he said 73% of the victims ended up working as scammers, 12% in customer service, 8% in casinos and 7% as cooks or other jobs.
He also said police were working non-stop to combat job scams through strategies such as focusing investigations on recruiters for syndicates in Malaysia and collaborating with relevant agencies to rescue victims.
"The best way to combat job scams is to increase awareness among the public," he said.
