Low awareness makes Bornean states a target for job scam syndicates, says MHO

KOTA KINABALU: Job scam syndicates are believed to be shifting their “recruitment” efforts to Sabah and Sarawak, exploiting a lack of awareness of their schemes here, says the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO).

Its Sabah operations officer Capt Jerry Jaimeh said they promise lucrative jobs that they pitch to prospective recruits as life-changing opportunities.

“Job scams are widely publicised in Peninsular Malaysia, but here in Sabah, especially in rural areas, awareness is limited.

“This is what these syndicates are exploiting,” he told a media briefing at the MHO office here on Friday (Oct 25), adding that such scams were “a cancer” to the country.

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He said such cases had persisted since 2020 but media coverage in Sabah and Sarawak was lacking.

“We want to highlight the human trafficking cases commonly reported in countries like Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

“Sabahans have been tricked into travelling there, (being forcibly confined) and held for ransom, sometimes up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit.

“These syndicates contact the victims’ families, demanding money for their release,” he said.

He cited the case of 29-year-old Sabahan Mohd Addie Azrinn Abdul Rahman, who was lured with a job offer for a gold business in Bangkok, fully paid for by the syndicate.

He left Sabah on Oct 17, with a return flight six days later.

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Upon reaching Bangkok, Addie and a Chinese national woman were taken to a location about six hours later.

Addie posted updates on WhatsApp, prompting his older brother to reach out for more details.

“He said they were headed to Chiang Mai but didn’t know the exact location,” Jerry explained.

“(There was silence) after that… until a few days later, when he informed his family that he had been trafficked to Myanmar and was being held captive.

“His captors demanded US$30,000 (about RM120,000) by Oct 30 or threatened to sell him to organ traffickers,” he added.

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He said while the victims await payment of the ransom, they are “sold” to other groups, forced to participate in scams and given targets to meet under threat of punishment.

“In some cases, they are forced to recruit more people to secure their own release,” he added.

He described cases where unsuspecting individuals were coaxed by friends claiming they could make good money abroad, only to end up similarly trapped.

Since 2021, MHO has collaborated with authorities and NGOs across affected countries to help these victims, he said.

It has received nearly 2,000 complaints and helped rescue about 300 people, including 50 Sabahans.

Jerry said Friday’s media briefing was part of MHO’s outreach to raise awareness among rural communities in Sabah and Sarawak.

He advised families against paying any ransom, and not to try contacting the victims too frequently to minimise risks to their safety.