Cryptocurrency Scams Sweep Through Cambodia, Leaving Trail of Despair for Indians
Job Scams Target Desperate Jobseekers in India
GOLANTHARA, India - The promise of a lucrative job in Vietnam was too good to resist for Dinabandhu Sahu, a 41-year-old Indian man who has been struggling to find decent employment back home. However, his dream turned into a nightmare when he was duped into working at an online cryptocurrency scam center in Cambodia.
Hundreds of Indians Rescued and Repatriated
Sahu was one of the hundreds of Indians rescued and repatriated by the government after they were lured into fraudulent employment opportunities in Cambodia. His story is a stark reminder of the growing menace of job scams targeting desperate jobseekers, particularly those with skills in IT and data entry.
The Growing Trend of Job Scams
The trend has been on the rise in India, where unemployment and lack of skilled, permanent jobs are leading concerns ahead of the general election. Online job scams using social media platforms to recruit victims have become a lucrative business for organized crime rings, with profits estimated to be as high as $3 trillion annually.
Sahu’s Ordeal
Sahu’s ordeal began when he was added to a WhatsApp group by an agent claiming to work for an IT firm in Vietnam. He sent over his documents and paid 150,000 rupees ($1,796) to arrange the job, leaving behind his wife and daughter. Days later, he was taken to Poipet, Cambodia, where he was forced to create a fake persona to contact thousands of people in the Philippines via social media to gain their trust and encourage them to invest in cryptocurrency.
- “It was daily torture,” Sahu recalled, wiping away tears as he described his time as a captive in a tiny room, given food only once a day. “They demanded I bring business and grew angry when I couldn’t.”
- Sahu’s story is a testament to the desperation of Indians seeking employment opportunities abroad.
Experts Weigh In
“It is a popular belief that more job opportunities will fix this problem but that is not the case because this is all about status aspiration, and the amount of money being offered in a more powerful currency in a foreign country,” said labour economist K.R. Shyam Sundar.
Sundar urged Indian states to establish an international affairs department to register migrant workers at the village level, and monitor those leaving for jobs abroad. He also called for authorities to name and shame bogus recruitment agencies to raise awareness.
Sahu’s Mission
In the meantime, Sahu is doing what he can to stop others from falling into similar traps - alerting friends over potential scams and helping state cyber police in a probe into how fraudulent recruiters operate. “Nobody should have to go through the ordeal that I did,” he said.
The Indian Government’s Response
The Cambodian Embassy in New Delhi has not commented on the case, and it is unclear if arrests were made following the rescue of the Indian migrants. The Indian government has issued several warnings, including an April 4 advisory urging Indians not to “fall into the trap of human traffickers”.