Job scam victims from the Greater China region have been flown to syndicates in Cambodia before being forced to cheat others back home out of their money. With the government paying close attention to combating COVID-19, human traffickers have become bolder.
Huang, a Chinese national who chose to conceal her last name, fell in love with a man she met online and did not suspect a thing when he encouraged her to invest USD $150,000 into a project. By the time she realised it was all a scam, it was too late.
But her story doesn’t end here.
Following the incident, Huang decided to join an international anti-scam organisation to help other victims in similar ‘romance’ scams. The organisation, called Global Anti-Scam Organisation, has saved over 80 victims from these rings so far.
Along with other volunteers in the group, Huang discovered that many of these online scammers are victims of a large-scale human trafficking ring located in Cambodia and Myanmar.
Local media in the Greater China region has recently exposed a series of job scams that culminated in human trafficking. Typical victims either read or hear about a job ad that promises return flight tickets and an attractive salary for a job in Cambodia, Myanmar or Thailand. Once they fly there, “company staffers” confiscate their travel documents and drive them to a compound, in which they are forced to work as online scammers. Some were reportedly beaten up or tortured when they refused.
