P. Kumar, a Chennai graduate, had a complex job and a demanding boss in Cambodia. He spent 12 hours a day hunched over a computer sending friend requests from phony women’s profiles to Indian men in their 40s. His brief: Get them to invest in phony cryptocurrency sites. His salary: 1.5 lakh per month.
Whenever he sat down to stretch his legs, he received a keen slap from his Chinese supervisor. On his “best” day, Kumar used to send around 100 friend requests for his designated “targets”. Tired, he tried to run away, but was caught, locked in a shadowy room without toilets and electrocuted.
This is what life is like in probably hundreds of Chinese fraud centers in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, run by international business. Thousands of youthful people, including women, from across India who were promised “jobs in the computer sector” by agents are virtually trafficked into Chinese-controlled dens in Cambodia, Burma and Laos. Hundreds of these victims are from Tamil Nadu, several from Chennai. The agents promise lucrative work in the “computer sector”, but the men and women only realize the trap once they reach the workplace.
Kumar’s dream turned into a nightmare began when his father saw a job advertisement on Facebook. “He contacted the consultant mentioned in the ad,” said Kumar, who has returned to Chennai. “After sending the documents and the amount of around Rs 1 lakh, the consultant said that many interviews were scheduled for construction related work. He advised me to go to Cambodia on a tourist visa. When I got there, the driver took me to a blue building in Kampot town,” Kumar recalls with horror. This was to be his torture cell for seven months, after which he paid a “ransom” to return home.
Typically, these buildings operate behind casinos. Modern recruits are tested on their typing speed. “There would be multiple tables in the “office,” each seating 16 employees. Trainees dressed in yellow, green, blue or civilian uniforms sit behind experienced staff who are dressed in red uniforms,” Kumar said.
Interns are given phones and forced to work on different “platforms” – in India, China and Arab countries. “We are trained how to set up a honey trap, talk to targets and how to operate artificial intelligence to turn a photo into a porn video. We had to force victims to invest in phony cryptocurrency. Once they send the money, we throw away the SIM card we used to contact them. The training is being held in another wing of the building,” Kumar said.
Mahesh*, an MCA graduate who fell victim to the scam, said he was supposed to be taken to Thailand for “computer work”. However, he ended up in Laos, in a building similar to the one where Kumar worked. “We had to work over 12 hours. Between 10:00 and 12:30 we have two half-hour meal breaks. There were long queues of workers from different countries. Everyone is served only Chinese cuisine,” Mahesh said.
After work, they are taken to their rooms. “Armed guards patrol the room and check on staff before turning off the lights. There were ten people in the room,” said Botcha Shankar, a former soldier from Visakhapatnam who refused to do the job and was trapped there for six months. After being subjected to torture, including shock therapy, he recently returned after paying his Chinese master $4,500 (close to Rs 4 lakh). He wants to augment youthful people’s awareness of phony agents and fraudsters.
Those who avoid work or try to quit are punished. “For a few days you are thrown into a shadowy room without food, attacked or given shock therapy. This is the punishment,” Shankar said. Supervisors make sure that no one talks or even makes “unnecessary” head movements while working. Everything is monitored using CCTV cameras.
Escaping from these relationships is not straightforward. “We have to pay one lakh of Indian rupees in yuan or recruit one or two youthful people for the job before leaving,” said Kumar, who paid 8,500 yuan (Rs 98,000) to be released. Some victims from Tamil Nadu said the police made no effort to catch the agents who recruited them.
Sanjay Kumar, ADGP (cyber crime), said police have arrested some agents. “Our activities will continue. We are also taking steps to raise awareness about the scam,” he said. Last week, the Tamil Nadu government issued a warning to youthful people to conduct thorough background checks on agents offering them jobs in Southeast Asian countries.
(* Names changed)
Whenever he sat down to stretch his legs, he received a keen slap from his Chinese supervisor. On his “best” day, Kumar used to send around 100 friend requests for his designated “targets”. Tired, he tried to run away, but was caught, locked in a shadowy room without toilets and electrocuted.
This is what life is like in probably hundreds of Chinese fraud centers in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, run by international business. Thousands of youthful people, including women, from across India who were promised “jobs in the computer sector” by agents are virtually trafficked into Chinese-controlled dens in Cambodia, Burma and Laos. Hundreds of these victims are from Tamil Nadu, several from Chennai. The agents promise lucrative work in the “computer sector”, but the men and women only realize the trap once they reach the workplace.
Kumar’s dream turned into a nightmare began when his father saw a job advertisement on Facebook. “He contacted the consultant mentioned in the ad,” said Kumar, who has returned to Chennai. “After sending the documents and the amount of around Rs 1 lakh, the consultant said that many interviews were scheduled for construction related work. He advised me to go to Cambodia on a tourist visa. When I got there, the driver took me to a blue building in Kampot town,” Kumar recalls with horror. This was to be his torture cell for seven months, after which he paid a “ransom” to return home.
Typically, these buildings operate behind casinos. Modern recruits are tested on their typing speed. “There would be multiple tables in the “office,” each seating 16 employees. Trainees dressed in yellow, green, blue or civilian uniforms sit behind experienced staff who are dressed in red uniforms,” Kumar said.
Interns are given phones and forced to work on different “platforms” – in India, China and Arab countries. “We are trained how to set up a honey trap, talk to targets and how to operate artificial intelligence to turn a photo into a porn video. We had to force victims to invest in phony cryptocurrency. Once they send the money, we throw away the SIM card we used to contact them. The training is being held in another wing of the building,” Kumar said.
Mahesh*, an MCA graduate who fell victim to the scam, said he was supposed to be taken to Thailand for “computer work”. However, he ended up in Laos, in a building similar to the one where Kumar worked. “We had to work over 12 hours. Between 10:00 and 12:30 we have two half-hour meal breaks. There were long queues of workers from different countries. Everyone is served only Chinese cuisine,” Mahesh said.
After work, they are taken to their rooms. “Armed guards patrol the room and check on staff before turning off the lights. There were ten people in the room,” said Botcha Shankar, a former soldier from Visakhapatnam who refused to do the job and was trapped there for six months. After being subjected to torture, including shock therapy, he recently returned after paying his Chinese master $4,500 (close to Rs 4 lakh). He wants to augment youthful people’s awareness of phony agents and fraudsters.
Those who avoid work or try to quit are punished. “For a few days you are thrown into a shadowy room without food, attacked or given shock therapy. This is the punishment,” Shankar said. Supervisors make sure that no one talks or even makes “unnecessary” head movements while working. Everything is monitored using CCTV cameras.
Escaping from these relationships is not straightforward. “We have to pay one lakh of Indian rupees in yuan or recruit one or two youthful people for the job before leaving,” said Kumar, who paid 8,500 yuan (Rs 98,000) to be released. Some victims from Tamil Nadu said the police made no effort to catch the agents who recruited them.
Sanjay Kumar, ADGP (cyber crime), said police have arrested some agents. “Our activities will continue. We are also taking steps to raise awareness about the scam,” he said. Last week, the Tamil Nadu government issued a warning to youthful people to conduct thorough background checks on agents offering them jobs in Southeast Asian countries.
(* Names changed)