A 19-year-old man from Ipoh known as Yang had the intention of finding a job opportunity in Thailand, however it is believed that he was tricked by his friend until he was stranded and forced to become an online scammer in Myanmar.
The victim is said to have been stranded in the country since last May and claimed that he was also beaten by members of a human trafficking syndicate when he did not reach a set profit target.
According to Perak MCA Complaints and Public Service Bureau Head, Low Guo Nan, last May, the victim informed his grandmother known as Chong that he wanted to work in Kuala Lumpur.
But after six months of no contact, his grandmother received a call from her grandson via Facebook Messenger last Monday, saying that he was stranded in Myanmar.
“Her grandson cried while asking his grandmother for help because he had been trapped and tricked into working as an online scammer in Myanmar for the past five months.
“Through Facebook messenger he asked his grandmother to make a police report to save him.
“We tried to contact the victim and the victim said he was safe.
“However, the victim claimed to have been beaten with an electric shock stick because he could not meet the target through the online scammer’s activity,” he said.
He said this at a special press conference regarding the issue at the Ipoh West MCA Coordination Centre on Wednesday.
In the meantime, Guo Nan said the victim was allegedly deceived by his friend who told him there was a job opportunity in Thailand, but was suddenly taken to Myanmar illegally.
“The victim said that the employer put a condition where the victim had to pay a compensation of RM115,000 if he wanted to go home,” he said.
In this regard, he said, his party came forward to help solve the case by sending a letter to the ASEAN Police (ASEANAPOL), the International Police (INTERPOL) and the embassy in Myanmar.
Guo Nan also hopes that the parties involved can take appropriate action to save the victim and bring him back to his homeland as soon as possible.
