KUALA LUMPUR: The Foreign Ministry is in the midst of tracking down 99 more Malaysians who had fallen victim to overseas job scams.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said as of Sept 22, the Malaysian Embassies in Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Vientiane and Yangon had received 301 reports about Malaysian citizens falling victim to fraudulent job offer syndicates abroad.
"Of those, a total of 202 people were successfully rescued, with 168 people sent home.
"The remaining 34 people are being detained at the immigration detention depot while awaiting the deportation process, while another 99 people are still being traced," he said in a parliamentary written reply.
Saifuddin was responding to Steven Choong Shiau Yoon (PBM-Tebrau) on the government's measures to combat the job scams issue affecting Malaysians.
According to Saifuddin, Cambodia topped the list with 158 cases reported of Malaysians being scammed by fraudulent job offers.
This is followed by Myanmar with 59 cases, Laos 56 cases and Thailand with 28 cases.
Of these, he said the number of victims who have been rescued in Cambodia stood at 153, five in Myanmar, 28 in Laos and 16 in Thailand.
"Among the main constraints faced by our representatives abroad in trying to rescue victims include the difficulty of access to turbulent or high-risk areas, the lack of complete and accurate information, as well as the victims being moved by the syndicate from time to time."