Four Indian nationals who had fallen prey to fraudulent job offers and were coerced into working for cybercrime syndicates in Myanmar were successfully repatriated by the Indian Embassy in Yangon on Friday.
These individuals were rescued from scam compounds in Myawaddy, a region along the Myanmar-Thailand border that has earned a grim reputation as the global capital of scams.
Following the rescue, they were transported to Yangon, where they were formally handed over to Indian officials by Myanmar authorities.
This latest repatriation comes just a month after more than 500 Indian citizens were brought back home under similar circumstances. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), there has been a troubling rise in the number of Indian nationals being lured abroad with deceptive job opportunities, only to find themselves trapped in exploitative scam networks.
An MEA spokesperson said that these scam operations promise roles like Digital Sales and Marketing Executives in countries such as Thailand, Dubai, or Bangkok, but once the victims arrive, they are held captive and forced to carry out cyber fraud.
The scam networks, heavily concentrated in the Myawaddy region, operate with brutal efficiency. Thai lawmaker Rangsiman Rome, from the Opposition People’s Party, described the area in a February interview with VOA as hosting approximately 300,000 individuals engaged in global scamming operations round the clock. “They have defrauded amounts exceeding the GDP of some nations, and there’s no clear end in sight,” Rome warned.
Reports suggest that these scam lords have amassed billions through their fraudulent operations and are now relocating further south along the Thai border in an attempt to evade growing scrutiny.
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The Indian Embassy, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), confirmed the successful repatriation of the four citizens and reiterated its warning against falling for such fraudulent employment schemes. The post read that we have facilitated exit permits by Myanmar authorities for these four Indian nationals from Myawaddy compounds and repatriation through Yangon yesterday. We strongly advise against such job offers and entry/exit without border immigration in Myanmar/Thailand, which can restrict future entry.
The four individuals repatriated on Friday were part of a larger group of 36 Indian victims identified in the Myawaddy scam compounds. Of them, 32 had been repatriated earlier on April 10.
These scam centres are known to circulate fake job offers through social media and via agents based in India and Dubai. Once trafficked to Myanmar, victims are subjected to harsh working conditions and psychological intimidation. Alongside Indian nationals, the networks also exploit people from China, East Africa, and other regions.
The Indian government, through diplomatic channels and international cooperation, continues to work toward the safe return of its citizens and is urging the public to stay vigilant against such deceptive job offers.