From Hope To Horror: Sickly Woman Falls For Job Scam, Ends Up In Myanmar

A 45-year-old Chinese woman was tricked into being a forced labour in northern Myanmar after being diagnosed with uterine sarcoma and needing to raise medical expenses.

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A 45-year-old Chinese woman was tricked into being a slave labour in northern Myanmar after being diagnosed with uterine sarcoma and needing to raise medical expenses.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was forced to work as a scammer online by a con syndicate and was subjected to physical abuse and confinement until her body was marked with bruises.

According to reports, the victim had asked the syndicate to let her go.

Rather than requesting a ransom for her release, the syndicate demanded that the victim recruit more Malaysians to work as forced labour in northern Myanmar before they even considered freeing her.

The victim’s younger sister, known only as Ms Lee, organized a press conference with the assistance of the Federal Territory PKR Complaints and Legal Bureau to highlight the case.

She said that her sister had flown to the Philippines to interview for a job at the request of the fraud group but was refused entry because she could not produce relevant documents when she entered the country.

The crooks then asked her sister to interview in Thailand.

Following her journey to Thailand for an interview, the syndicate informed her that she was required to travel to northern Myanmar for training, ultimately leading her to fall into a trap.

A Tragic Story of Deception and Abuse

Her sister’s mobile phone was confiscated immediately upon arrival, and she was imprisoned somewhere in the area, where she was forced to engage in online fraud activities.

In the early hours of 1 August, Lee received a WhatsApp message from her sister.

The message revealed that her sister had been beaten by criminal group members while in captivity and could not walk for two weeks, and also included a photo of her sister’s bruises.

The message came from an unknown phone number.

Her sister asked other people if they knew where they were, but she was overheard by members of the syndicate and was beaten and unable to get medical treatment.

Lee pointed out that because her parents are old, they may be unable to bear that her sister is imprisoned in northern Myanmar, so she can only ask for help from the outside world, hoping to get help to rescue her sister.

This case highlights the dangers of job scams and the importance of verifying the background of hiring companies.

The Malaysian International Humanitarian Organization (MHO) has called on social media operators, including Facebook and Telegram, to filter and block false job advertisements so that Malaysians will not be deceived.

MHO hopes Malaysians will be protected from such scams by acting against false job advertisements.

MALAYSIA: Gov. considers tightening laws to protect citizens from being conned by fake job offers and lured into online scam/gambling work abroad. PM Anwar Ibrahim said many Malaysians victims of scams by syndicates, including in Myanmar. https://t.co/lOY0pJ3aLk
— CyberScamMonitor (@CyberScamWatch) February 17, 2023