JOB scam syndicates are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with some forcing potential candidates to go through several rounds of interviews to give them a semblance of an actual job-hunting process, reported Sin Chew Daily.
After the candidate “passes” the so-called stringent hiring process, they receive a plane ticket to a country in South-East Asia, only to find themselves trafficked and trapped, working for a scam syndicate in Myanmar.
Speaking during an awareness campaign at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kampar, Perak, Nguyen Huu Ngoc gave an example of a woman from South Africa who fell for the same job scam.
“The young woman was excited by the prospect of being able to work abroad after seeing an advertisement online.
“She ended up getting the position based in Bangkok,” said Nguyen, who is the Director for Plans and Programmes at Aseanapol Secretariat.
The woman received a one-way ticket to Bangkok, but upon arrival, traffickers transported her across the border to Myanmar.
Her “employers” confiscated her passport and mobile phone and forced her to start carrying out online scams just like the thousands of other jobseekers lured there, Nguyen said.
The woman managed to escape after working there for six months, during which she earned her captors’ trust.
She ran away when asked to go on a grocery run in a nearby town.
Nguyen warned students attending the talk to be wary of jobs which are too good to be true.
“In today’s digital age, the best tools to fight online scams and human traffickers are our collective awareness and alertness,” he said.
It was reported that the Aseanapol Secretariat serves as the permanent administrative and coordination office for the Asean Chiefs of National Police (known as Aseanapol), facilitating cooperation and information-sharing among police forces throughout South-East Asia.
