Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

This Malaysian man escaped from the Chinese, thanks to a raid by Cambodian authorities. Long read:
Malaysia
Beaten and sold thrice: Sabahan survivor recounts escape from brutal job scammers in Cambodia
Wednesday, 28 Sep 2022 8:41 AM MYT
KOTA KINABALU, Sept 28 — A job scam victim from Sabah returned home on Tuesday after spending a gruelling and scary three months in Cambodia.

After the experience, the 28-year-old father of two urged people to not simply trust anyone, particularly those with the promise of making a quick buck.

Requesting to be known only by his first name, Eric arrived at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on Tuesday and held a press conference to warn other Sabahans so that they will not fall into the same trap.

The former salesman in Miri, Sarawak, claimed that he heard of the opportunity of making fast cash from an online friend from Sibu, also in Sarawak.

He told a translator from Democratic Action Party (DAP) on Tuesday that his online friend whom he has befriended for about six months or so, told him that he would receive US$5,000 for each bank account he opened in Thailand.

He alleged that his friend had asked him to open three bank accounts in the country and claimed that he did not know what the bank accounts were for.

Eric added that he did not think twice about the offer because he trusted his friend.

He also told the translator that he had told his aunt about his plan to travel to Thailand, but she tried to dissuade him from going but to no avail.

He also said that when he arrived in Kuala Lumpur, he noticed that his ticket was bound to Cambodia.

When he asked his friend (from Sarawak) about it, the latter told him that he would be traveling to Thailand by car from Cambodia.

Again, he said he did not question it since his friend said so and boarded an airplane to Cambodia.
Full story: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia ... odia/30481
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

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September 29, 2022
More requests submitted for rescue of foreigners
The Ministry of Interior received more requests from people for the rescue of 17 foreigners.
This was stated by General Khieu Sopheak. The general stated that the requests were submitted on 28 September.

Among those complaints, there were three cases in Kandal, one case in Oddar Meanchey, two cases in Preah Sihanouk, two cases in Svay Rieng and one case in Phnom Penh.

As of September 28, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng has received a total of 368 requests.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501159334/ ... oreigners/
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

Post by phuketrichard »

LOL: to late ......
Do not let Cambodia become a haven of crime, a place of money laundering, a place of human trafficking,” HE said at a forum on human trafficking on Thursday.

Prime Minister HE on Thursday acknowledged foreign workers had been lured and trafficked to Cambodia amid ongoing police raids against criminal scam operations that have now reached Siem Reap

.....In the past, Cambodians had been trafficked overseas to work on fishing boats or for sex, and now some criminals were persuading foreigners to come to work in Cambodia, luring them with the promise of high salaries but trafficking them once they arrived, HE said.

.......Phearum added that foreign nationals who were found at raided compounds were allowed to leave if their documents were in order; fined if they lacked work permits; sent to immigration centers if they didn’t have documentation; or questioned by authorities if suspected of being involved in crime.

“[If] they crossed the border illegally to come here to work, we will send them to immigration. When we find people that detained, or tortured or exploited [workers], we will send them to the relevant expert team,” Phearum said.

“For the victims who were cheated or suffered some other thing, we give them the option: They can go work in another place, or if they want to return to their homeland, we help find a solution for them,” he said, adding that the range of discovered crimes varied across compounds.
https://vodenglish.news/amid-ongoing-sc ... nsecurity/

bet most have wp's :please:
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

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phuketrichard wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 8:40 am LOL: to late ......
No offences found in latest foreigner inspections in S'ville
Orm Bunthoeurn | Publication date 30 September 2022 | 15:16 ICT

Authorities inspected two locations in Sihanoukville on September 28 but discovered no victims or offences.

According to a September 30 press release, the first location – registered to Fi Ben Hav Euk – is in Commune II’s Village 1 and the second – Ching Chhay III – is in Commune III’s Village 3.

The first location, a seven storey building with 57 units, had no occupants. Officers discovered four Cambodian cleaners and one Chinese cook, who had only been employed at the site for five days.

“Upon the inspection of the locations, we found no offence, so we handed the buildings back to the owners’ representatives,” it said.

The second location had two buildings. The first had four floors with 62 units and was also unoccupied. The second was eight storeys high with 90 units and 52 offices. The officers found 11 Cambodian and 24 Chinese people working there, but they were all in possession of correct documentation.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... ons-sville
Looks like the birds have flown...
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

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Long read on allegations of Cambodian police corruption by trafficked victims, from VICE online:

They Thought Their Human Trafficking Nightmare Was Over. Then Came the Police.
Freed from scam gangs in Cambodia, victims say they are now being detained and extorted by police demanding bribes for bedding, food and to return home.
by Rachel Cheung
October 4, 2022, 10:36am

Sid thought his nightmare was finally over when, in early September, Cambodian police showed up at the compound where he’d been held captive and forced to work since May. Several officers showed the company that recruited him a complaint letter they had received, asked him and a few others to pack up, and led them out.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he set foot outside the high walls that surrounded the complex, lined with barbed wire and CCTV cameras to prevent escapes. For the first time in three months, he no longer feared for his life, free from the gang that controlled his every move and forced him into running romance and cryptocurrency scams.

“I was so happy when they came to the rescue. I thought I was redeemed,” Sid told VICE World News. But his relief didn’t last long.

Sid was duped and held against his will for months by the scam group under threat of violence. But instead of treating him as a victim and allowing him to go free or leave the country, Cambodian authorities have put him in an overcrowded cell with two dozen other men, he said, while officers try to extract money from them. Still in custody, he spoke to VICE World News from a detention facility using a secret spare phone.

This article uses pseudonyms for all current detainees and withheld their location to prevent retaliation by authorities.

“Now I feel that we were not rescued. We were arrested. We are here like criminals,” he said.

Sid said officers in the facility have confiscated his main phone and demanded $400 for its return. They asked for $300 to provide a bed and another $100 for a fan during his stay. Unable to pay, Sid said he and other detainees are sleeping on the floor surrounded by trash in the stifling heat. VICE World News has seen photos and videos showing these conditions but are unable to independently confirm the dates and place they were taken.

“We are in very bad condition, both mentally and physically,” Sid said. “We don’t know when they will release us and how long we can survive here.”
Full article: https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vwn3/ ... n-cambodia
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

Post by sammycooke »

Is love to comment about what I think about Cambodia, but last time I did that I was afforded a 2 week vacation. So. No comment.
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

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sammycooke wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:29 am Is love to comment about what I think about Cambodia, but last time I did that I was afforded a 2 week vacation. So. No comment.
Yes but the difference between those running the show and Joe average is chork and cheese
I'm standing up, so I must be straight.
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

Post by techietraveller84 »

https://asiatimes.com/2022/10/pig-butch ... -cambodia/ "Pig butchering' cyberscam upended in Cambodia. This group has been linked to cybercrime throughout SE Asia, most notably in Laos and Myanmar
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

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Nine businesses in Preah Sihanouk province closed due to suspected links to human trafficking
Ry Sochan | Publication date 08 October 2022 | 14:29 ICT

Nine business locations in Preah Sihanouk province were suspected to be involved in human trafficking activities, leading the authorities to shut down five of them, while the other four have been told to temporarily halt their operations while investigations continue.

The shutdown is the result of the operations against human trafficking launched by the government which so far have been carried out for the past 51 days according to the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT).

The NCCT said on October 7 that from August 18 to October 4 the authorities had investigated 420 complaints filed to the NCCT linked to human trafficking.

Based on those complaints, police and relevant authorities have opened investigations and found 229 cases involved with human trafficking and rescued 118 victims of five nationalities.

The crimes involved also include confinement, extortion, torture, prostitution and illegal gambling with a total of 67 suspects who have been apprehended, both Cambodians and foreign nationals.

“The operation has also found nine companies in Preah Sihanouk province to be involved with these crimes, resulting in five companies completely shut down so far and four others temporarily shut down while further investigations proceed,” the NCCT statement said.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... rafficking
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Re: Cyber slavery: inside Cambodia's online scam gangs (UPDATED)

Post by Doc67 »

More international exposure, this time on the front page of the Guardian online.

It doesn't tell us anything we don't already know, but it does expose Cambodia to yet more reputational damage, to a global readership, and exposes the government as being incapable of dealing with this long term criminal and humanitarian crisis. Any decent government would never allow this to happen in the first place. The fact they allowed it to start, and now can't (won't) end it, tells you all you need to know about them.

Sold to gangs, forced to run online scams: inside Cambodia’s cybercrime crisis


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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... ime-crisis
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