Why do so many young, educated Indians continue to be tricked by fake job offers from transnational crime syndicates based in Southeast Asia? A slew of recent reports suggests that instead of their dream job, the victims find themselves in prison-like compounds, typically in parts of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, where they are coerced into working as online scammers. Some have been rescued. Many remain.
Survivors who have managed to flee come from different parts of the country. The most recent instance involved jobless young men in their twenties from Greater Noida who had been trapped by a cybercrime ring in Cambodia. They managed to escape after paying huge sums of money.
It is not a new story. We have heard similar stories from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and the National Capital Region, and other countries. In October 2022, the reported 130 Indian professionals had been rescued from Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
They had been duped by fake job offers in Thailand but eventually taken elsewhere and coerced into committing cyber fraud by criminal networks. Since then, state governments in India as well as the Centre repeatedly issued advisories, cautioning Indians against “fake job offers” abroad. “Got a job in Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR? You may end up as a cyber slave.
Please verify the offer, organisation carefully and check details of work visa,” warns Tamil Nadu police’s cybercrime wing on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Despite th.
