Victims never met WeChat recruitment agent

KUCHING: An “invisible agent” behind the WeChat application is believed to have lured the 47 Malaysians into accepting job offers in Cambodia.

The agent deceived the victims by placing a job vacancy advertisement in the application, and making all advance payment arrangements, air ticket fees and promising jobs with lucrative pay.

All flight costs were paid for, including sending a slip of flight tickets to Cambodia to the victims’ mobile phone. All the victims needed to do was to take their passports and check in at the airport.

None of the 47 detainees, held at the Beantey Meanchey Provincial Prison in Cambodia for 65 days, ever met the agent.

Confirming the matter, victim Abdul Mustaqqim Abdul Karim, 24, said the syndicate offered him a job with a salary of US$1,200 (RM4,900) a month.

“Who would not be enticed by such an offer? I was offered to work in the hotel line as a cook. However, it was a different story upon arrival in Cambodia in October, when dozens of other Malaysians and I were held at two bungalows in Poipet.

“We were not allowed to talk and met only over meals. Every move was monitored by closed-circuit television cameras in our rooms,” he said after arriving at the Kuching International Airport here yesterday.

Forty-seven Malaysians were arrested by the Cambodian authorities for alleged involvement in online gambling. Forty are from Sarawak, three each from Sabah and Selangor, and one from Kuala Lumpur.

They were symbolically handed over to the Malaysian government on Saturday at 4pm by Minister in the Cambodian Prime Minister’s Office Oknha Datuk Dr Othsman Hassan upon completion of immigration documentation.

Mustaqqim said he hoped the incident would serve as a lesson to young people not to be duped into accepting job offers that were too good to be true.

“Not all advertised job offers are phony, but my advice is to seek help from the Malaysian embassy to verify whether the jobs are valid.”

He said it was a horrifying experience being held in the bungalows, adding that no one dared to escape as that would put their lives in danger.

“One of us tried to escape after almost two months, but failed. He was beaten up by men guarding the bungalows.”

Nur Muhammad Arif Bokhari, 23, said he was also offered work in the hotel industry with the same salary as Mustaqqim’s.

“Upon arrival at the bungalow, our mobile phones and passports were seized. We were allowed to communicate with family members once a week.

“It was a traumatic experience being held in the bungalows for more than 60 days. We will remember it for the rest of our life,” he said.

Another victim, Nur Mardiana Mohamad Hamzah, 25, said the ordeal of the 47 Malaysians should serve as a lesson to everyone

“It was a bitter two-month experience. Life was difficult, we were served rotten fish and plain water daily.”