India on Saturday issued an alert to its citizens about fake job offers on social media platforms to suspected IT firms that have taken over 100 workers to Myanmar.
32 Indian nationals have been rescued so far. They are lured to remote areas of Myanmar with the lure of lucrative IT jobs.
Efforts are on to rescue another 60 people stranded in these areas of Thailand and Myanmar.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the country’s missions in Thailand and Myanmar have “identified instances of fake job rackets to lure Indian youths for ‘digital sales and marketing executives’ posts in Thailand”.
These cycles are linked to call-center scams and crypto-currency frauds being carried out by “about 100 dubious IT firms“.
“Hence, Indian citizens at the administrative level are advised not to be lured by such fake job offers circulated through social media platforms or other media,” the statement released.
Suspicious firms target “IT-skilled youth. The crime is organized through agents based in Dubai and India along with social media advertisements in the name of lucrative data entry jobs in Thailand, luring them with lucrative packages”.
The ministry sensationally claimed, “Victims are illegally transported across the border into Myanmar and held captive to work under harsh conditions.”
Travel for employment Indian citizens are advised to verify credentials of foreign employers through missions abroad before traveling on various visas such as tourist or visit visas. All information such as recruitment agents should be checked before accepting a job offer.
The Indians were lured through Thailand-based agencies and sent illegally across the border to Myanmar’s Mayawaddy area. Where the security situation is disturbed. Some reports revealed that 300 Indian laborers may have been smuggled to the Mayawaddi area, but this could not be independently verified.
Indian embassies in two countries, Thailand and Myanmar respectively, have already issued advisories about the scam.
While 32 Indian nationals are reported to have been taken from an out-of-access area in Myanmar, the embassies of Myanmar and Thailand are in touch with another 50 to 60 Indians.
People involved in the matter said that the tight security situation along the Thailand-Myanmar border makes it easier for companies to lure Indians. Most of the workers taken for bogus jobs had basic computer skills. They were unaware that they would be forcibly taken across the Thai border into Myanmar.