KUALA LUMPUR: A man today shared his harrowing experience of being held at a gunpoint by a job scam syndicate based in Myanmar.
The victim, Max Thien, 30, shared that after almost a year of friending someone on social media, he met the said individual in August last year in Thailand.
He said the individual involved invited him to meet in Thailand, to get to know one another and for 'drinks'.
However, as soon as he reached the country, he was asked to get into a car with three other individuals inside.
"While in the car, a gun was pointed at me and I was instructed to go to Myanmar through the smuggling route.
"I had no choice and had to go to Myanmar through the smuggling route on a sampan," he said in a press conference held at the media centre in the parliament building today.
Present was Petaling Jaya member of parliament Lee Chean Chung.
Thien said that while in Myanmar, he was asked to scam others through various social media platforms such as TikTok so that the syndicate could make a profit.
"If we did not meet the desired target or refused to do it, we will get beaten or not allowed to sleep for a day or two," he said.
He said he was asked to do the scammer's work for three months, before being rescued by the Malaysian government and the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO).
Meanwhile, MHO public relations officer Danial Khoo claimed that about 1,000 Malaysians were still trapped in Myanmar, after being deceived by a job fraud syndicate.
He said this syndicate targets young people because of the value of their organs.
As such, he advised the youngsters not to be easily fooled by job offers with high salaries on social media.
"You also need to investigate the background of the company offering the job. Go to the Foreign Ministry, investigate the background of the company and ask the company to prepare a work permit," he said.