KUANTAN: Lured by a lucrative job offer in the financing sector abroad, a single father left his hometown here last month to travel to Bangkok, Thailand, to seek greener pastures.
Sadly, nothing turned out as planned when the man identified as Loon ended up in Kayin State, Myanmar, where he was physically and mentally tortured and forced to work as a scammer with no salary.
To make matters worse, the 33-year-old's family was forced to pay RM50,000 compensation to the scam syndicate this month for them to allow him to leave his 'workplace', which was a warehouse operating inside a plantation.
Loon, who was sharing his ordeal with Semambu assemblyman Lee Chean Chung's special officer Chan Chun Kuang, described his stay in Myanmar as a living nightmare giving him sleepless nights.
Things unfolded when the former cook said he spotted a Facebook advertisement offering a financial advisor position with a good pay on April 10 and immediately sent a message to the link.
"A Malaysian man contacted me for a video interview and after asking several questions, he told me I will be stationed in Bangkok earning RM8,000 salary. He told me to make preparations and meet an agent in Kelantan on April 17 who will take me to Bangkok.
"There were no offer letters and since I trusted the agent, I informed my family and left for Kelantan. Things got off to a messy start when the agent took me along with seven others, including two girls, illegally across Sungai Golok in a boat," he said, adding they were later ferried in a van to a nearby hotel.
The following day, the agent told them they will begin their journey on the road to their workplace, but after travelling for over 24 hours, he realised they were in Kayin State, Myanmar.
Loon, who has a young daughter, said when they began questioning the agent as to why they were taken to Myanmar, several men told them they could leave only after paying RM100,000.
"That was when the nightmare started. We were trained for several days before later, sitting long hours in front of the computer and phone to dupe people living in the United States into making bogus investments.
"We worked in a vast warehouse with several sections whereby some will send text messages to potential victims and others will make calls. Once we trap a potential victim, we will pass the line to the next person and find other new victims ... I noticed some were gathering potential victim backgrounds from social media," he said.
Loon said they were not paid any salary and instead only provided with meals and slept on a mattress on the first floor of the warehouse.
"There were a lot of Malaysians hired by the syndicate working at the warehouse and none of us could leave the premises, as the place was guarded by men armed with firearms.
"When I told one of the agents that I wanted to resign and go home, they threatened to beat me and demanded RM50,000 from my family. My family was instructed to pay the cash through eWallet and not transfer any cash," he said.
He said his family paid the cash on April 15 and he left the warehouse two days later before his agent helped him return to Malaysia through Sungai Golok.
Meanwhile, another victim identified as Jack said he was duped by a similar investment which offered RM10,000 salary to perform stock investment in Bangkok but ended up in the same warehouse with Loon.
"I was with a team with nine others and my task was to daily monitor social media to trap potential victims in United States. If we fail to trap any victims, the syndicate will punish us by asking us to run non-stop on the basketball court or only give us rice with no dishes.
"I noticed some China nationals were those who were giving instructions while the victims included Malaysians, Nepalese and other nationals. There were a lot of food stalls and entertainment outlets outside the warehouse....it was like a vast town," he said, adding his family paid RM60,000 to the syndicate before he was allowed home on April 16.
Meanwhile, Chan said the duo were victims of a human trafficking syndicate and, based on their experience, there were many Malaysians whose families could not afford to pay the compensation were still living at the warehouse.
"Both the victims are prepared to assist the police with their investigations, and I hope people will not be easily duped by the lucrative job offers on social media. The job scam is a tactic to lure Malaysians abroad to work as scammers and later demand cash from the family if the victims plan to return home," he said, the victims' mobile phones were seized by the syndicate.
On April 1, Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil Hassan said police will seek the help of Interpol and Aseanapol to track down and rescue Malaysian citizens held under duress by criminal syndicates overseas.
He said police had received reports from several victims who were deceived and exploited to work in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.