New Delhi. At least 5,000 Indians are reportedly being kept as slaves against their will in Cambodia. They have been forced to commit online fraud targeting Indians. It is estimated that Rs 500 crore has been earned from this large-scale scam in the last six months. Due to which both the countries worked together to expose the fraud. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), so far about 250 Indians have been rescued and brought back. The victims stranded in Cambodia alleged that they were asked to create fake social media profiles and defraud people in India.
One of the victims who was rescued said that ‘if we failed to meet the target they did not give us food, or did not allow us to rest.’ According to the NDTV report, the Ministry of External Affairs said that ‘Our Embassy in Cambodia is immediately responding to the complaints of Indian citizens who were lured with employment opportunities there, but were forced to do illegal cyber work. .’ Victims in Cambodia were forced to deceive people in India by posing as officials of law agencies and passing on information to potential victims. Whereas suspicious items were found in the parcel sent by them.
This is how the fraud was exposed
Such alleged fraud came to light last year when a senior central government employee reported a fraud of more than Rs 67 lakh. Rourkela police in Odisha arrested eight people allegedly involved in people smuggling to Cambodia and issued a lookout circular against 16 others. Due to which two persons were detained at Hyderabad airport. A source said, “We caught eight people from different areas and we have preliminary evidence of involvement of many people in this conspiracy.
Look out circular issued for 16 people
The government issued a look out circular for 16 other people. After which Harish Kurapati and Naga Venkat Saujanya Kurapati were detained at Hyderabad airport on their return from Cambodia. Stephen, one of the victims rescued from Cambodia, explained the modus operandi of this online fraud racket. He and two others were offered a data entry job in Cambodia by an agent in Mangaluru. Upon reaching there, he was interviewed and told that his job was to create fake social media profiles and deceive people. According to media reports, punishment was given for failing to meet daily targets, which included withholding food and rest.
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Tags: Cyber Crime, Cyber Crime News, cyber police, cyber thugs, cybercrime
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 31, 2024, 18:59 IST