Job scam victim recounts ordeal so others not fall prey
KUCHING: A job scam victim here has recounted what happened to her early this year in the hope others do not to fall prey to job scammers.
Identified as Lai, she was detained for over a month by Thai authorities on charge of illegal entry into the kingdom.
She shared her story with Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen, who had helped secure her return, during a recent meeting at the latter’s legal firm here.
“Last week, I helped to secure the return of Miss Lai from the detention of the Thai authority and yesterday (May 1), she came to my office with her mother to express her gratitude for the help rendered,” said Chong in a statement.
Chong, who is Padungan assemblyman and Stampin MP, said Lai was promised a high-paying job in Bangkok in January this year. He said Lai then travelled to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with an agent and thereafter was brought illegally by land through the Malaysia-Thailand border to Bangkok.
Upon reaching Bangkok, she was driven to a rural town near the Cambodia border, he said.
“It was then that she realised something was amiss about the whole thing. She then secretly escaped from the agent and returned to Bangkok. (However) The Thai authority arrested her and she was detained on a charge of illegal entry into Thailand,” said Chong.
He said Lai was detained for more than a month and that her worried mother had tried seeking for help but to no avail. “Finally, in late April, she approached me for help. I wrote and called up the Malaysia Consulate office in Songkhla, Thailand and within a week, she (Lai) was back in Kuching,” Chong said.
“She hopes, by sharing her dreadful experience, she can forewarn many others to not fall into the scam of foreign highpaying job. As for now, she is most glad that she is back with her family,” he added.
Chong advised those seeking for jobs in a foreign country to be very careful about becoming victims of job scams.