Where dreams turn to dust: File pic showing a scam park in Mamwadi, Myanmar.
PETALING JAYA: Some Malaysians willingly turned to scam syndicates for employment, earning a lucrative income and living in comfort along the Thai-Myanmar border where several scam parks operate.
However, when the heat from crackdowns by the authorities becomes unbearable, fraudsters working for these overseas scam parks often resort to feigning victimhood in a bid to escape the law.
Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim (pic), who has undertaken hundreds of cases of Malaysians trapped in scam parks after being hoodwinked by local recruiters, said there is truth in a recent revelation by the government that a bulk of Malaysians who claim they are victims of human trafficking are actually willing partners with transnational syndicates.
He said based on intelligence gathered with overseas non-governmental organisations, MHO is sufficiently confident to conclude that not all Malaysians working as scammers are victims.
“Many of them have a shady history here. Some were either wanted by the police or were being hounded by loan sharks over debt.
“Since they were on the run, they chose to work for syndicates overseas to earn a living and evade authorities or whoever was after them here.
“I doubt they will return to Malaysia,” Hishamuddin said.
He added that while the foreign syndicates are mainly headed by Chinese nationals, Malaysians working for them by choice were given crucial roles in supervisory and recruitment positions.
Hishamuddin cited a case that was brought to his attention last year by the parents of a 22-year-old man from Klang who had voluntarily taken up a job with a scam syndicate in Myanmar.
The parents were unaware of their son’s shady activities and failed to persuade the man to come home, he said.
“The parents were worried for their son’s safety and sought our help.
“I made a video call, hoping to talk him into returning.
“However, I was taken aback when he did not budge, telling me he was happy working for the syndicates earning some big bucks.
“He had even sent his parents RM10,000, which they were not proud to receive. He is Malay but fluent in Chinese dialects,” Hishamuddin said.
He also shared another case of a Malaysian who is languishing in a Laotian prison after a crackdown on scam parks by Laos in 2022.
Hishamuddin said the 27-year-old man from Bidor, Perak, was a key member of a syndicate in Laos, and was tasked with recruiting Malaysians for scam-related activities.
“During a raid, Laotian authorities rescued 10 Malaysians including him.
“Upon investigation, they learnt that this man was part of the syndicate,” Hishamuddin said.
“He not only recruited Malaysians but also abused and tortured them when they lagged or refused to work.
“He was charged in court and is serving his sentence there.
“The remaining nine Malaysians returned home.”
Months later, the man’s mother approached MHO hoping to get help to secure her son’s release.
“I told her there is nothing much we could do as her son was an offender and was subject to laws of a foreign country.
“It is very heartbreaking to see aged parents appearing helpless and struggling to find ways to help their children.
“No parent should go through such a predicament in their old age,” Hishamuddin said, adding that MHO has its ways to determine whether a person is a genuine victim.
On Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin revealed in the Dewan Rakyat that 90% of Malaysians involved with fraud syndicates were willing employees pretending to be victims of human trafficking.
Mohamad said that as of June 10, the Foreign Ministry, with the assistance of police and foreign authorities, had successfully rescued 659 Malaysians ensnared by syndicates abroad.
