Two job scam victims in Myanmar return home after six-month ordeal

SEPANG: Two more job scam victims have returned to Malaysia after six months of being forced to work as online scammers in Myawaddy, Myanmar.

For 29-year-old Sarawakian man who only wanted to be known as Lau, he said the hellish experience began at the end of last year.

"I had been working in Singapore for six years and was offered a job through Facebook for a position at a bank in Thailand.

"They claimed that I could earn upwards of RM15,000 monthly," he told reporters when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Tuesday (May 7) night.

He said he was excited when he heard the offer and immediately made arrangements to go to Thailand.

"At first I flew into Thailand but when I arrived I was told to get on another flight to Myanmar.

"It was only when I reached Myanmar that I realised what was going on," he said, adding the syndicate forced him to work as a scammer

He said at first he did not want to work and the syndicate members locked him up for three days and refused to give him any food.

"They also beat me up and demanded that I work.

"All they gave me was water when I was locked up. I could not take it anymore and decided to work for them," he said.

Lau said there were very few Malaysians working for these syndicates now.

"These syndicates don’t want to bring in more Malaysians because they find us problematic," he said.

Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said Lau and another victim who only wished to be known as Ting, 26, were held by the syndicate for six months at Myawaddy, Myanmar.

"Both these victims were forced to pay US$2,000 (RM9,480) each to the syndicate to secure their release.

"Once they were released, we sent our team there to help them get out of Myanmar. They were flown into Bangkok, Thailand and were handed over to the Thai Immigration for further action," he said, adding that both victims were remanded in Thailand for 14 days before they were allowed to leave.

Lau urged the public to be wary of such job offers found on social media.

"If there is one piece of advice I can give, it is to not trust any job offer on social media," he said.