Malayali youths tortured in Cambodia when they refuse to defraud elderly SBI account holders

Kozhikode: Seven Malayali youths who were cheated out of money, subjected to physical and mental torture for days and forced to defraud elderly people felt they would never return home from Cambodia.

Lured into accepting jobs with Chinese companies operating in Poipet, Cambodia, these Malayali men lived as cyber slaves until a lucky break helped them escape to safety. When they returned to Kerala, they spoke to the media about their difficulties. Aswant Babu TP, Semil Dev, Abhinav Suresh and Arun SA from Kurunthody in Maniyur; Abhinand CP of Vatakara; Roshan Antony from Manjali near Angamali; and Ajmal MT from Ponnani said they were offered a job at an advertising company in Thailand but were forced to join a Cambodian company that was scamming people online. They recorded their statements with the Kalamassery police on Sunday.

They said around 300 Chinese-owned companies were running fraud rackets targeting Indians aged between 60 and 80 with SBI accounts. “These companies earn around Rs 3 or 3.5 crore a day,” said one of them.

“We were tortured every day because we refused to defraud others. After quitting our jobs, we left Kerala with dreams of starting a new career abroad. We now have no job or money and were subjected to physical and mental torture for a long time. We survived for a few days and returned home We are lucky to have returned safely,” said one of the young people.

The eighth batch member from Kerala, Abin Babu from Perambra, is still in Cambodia. The scammers initially did not hire him, stating that he did not approve of the interview.

He fell into the trap of fraudsters
A group, including Anurag Thekke Malayil and Athirat Sreenivasan from Thodannur near Vatakara, Mohammed Rasil Valiya Kunnummal from Mantharathur, Nasarudheen Sha from Puthuppanam and Koottanad near Vatakara, approached the Malappuram youths and told them about a sales and marketing company called Infinite International in Bangkok. He offered me a job at an advertising company. . The escaped youths said the four-member Malayali organization received $2,500 to $2,800 per person from the Chinese company to recruit children in Kerala.

Nasarudheen Sha, Athirat and Anurag. Photos: Special arrangement.

Anurag was friends with many people in the duped gang and Nasarudheen Sha is Ajmal’s cousin. They paid $540 and Rs 5,000 to hand over the work directly to Anurag and the team. They also had to spend Rs 1 lakh more to reach Thailand and later Cambodia.

They set out in three groups in the first and second week of October and flew from Bengaluru and Kochi to Bangkok. When they reached Thailand, agency representatives told them that the company’s office was in a border city.

However, when they reached Poipet, they realized that they were trapped. The office building stood in a remote location on a large, enclosed lot. The office bore the name of a restaurant. They had to train for a week before being assigned to defraud people. They also had to memorize the speech script and come up with tricks and loopholes to scam money from unsuspecting elders.

Various ways to scam money
Chinese companies obtain contacts of SBI account holders with the help of agents in India. The fraudsters then call the account holders pretending to be SBI officials and tell them that they have spent Rs 1 lakh on their credit cards. If the customer refuses to accept this claim, he will say that someone else is using the fake card using the account holder’s Aadhaar number.

To “recover the money spent,” account holders will be connected to a police officer via video call. The fake police will make them believe they are involved in money laundering and extort money from them to ‘solve’ the case.

torture days
Realizing that this was not an advertising agency but a fraud center, the men stated that they did not want to work in the company. When the Chinese men claimed they had to pay $2,500 to $2,800 per person to bring them to Cambodia, the Malayali men, infuriated by their refusal, were locked in a room and tortured. They were not allowed to sit down on the first day of the harassment. They were hit on their legs, heads and abdomens with iron rods and liquor bottles. Food was rarely given. They were given a bottle to satisfy their needs, and if they spilled anything they would be tortured again. The young people said this continued for a week.

Fraudsters seized their mobile phones, electronic devices, money and valuables. They attacked Arun because he hid a mobile phone in his shoe. Ajmal broke his left hand and had to undergo surgery on his return.

However, they managed to contact Anurag, Muhammad Rasil and Nasarudheen Shah and informed them about their ordeal. But they refused to help. The scammers were outraged when they learned they had contacted employment agencies. As punishment, they were taken to another dark room and tortured for two days.

They then decided to sell the men to another company to recoup the money spent on them. The transportation work was entrusted to a taxi driver. On the way, the Malayali youth managed to take their passports from the driver and escape. While they were getting on the Tuk Tuk, the taxi driver blocked their way. However, the group begged and persuaded the driver to take them to the Indian Embassy in Cambodia.

After all the procedures, Embassy officials distributed food to them and provided them with shelter for a day, upon the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Kerala State Government and Norka also ensured their safe return. On their arrival, they lodged different complaints at Nedumbassery Airport police station, which would later be transferred to the concerned police station.

I’m worried about your brother
“Abin Babu, who accompanied me, is still in Cambodia. He is with Anurag and his team. He assured his family that he is safe but we have concerns whether he was forced to make this statement in the video or whether he was unaware of it. The real situation there,” Semil Dev told Onmanorama .

“Abin’s family lodged a complaint against me at Perambra police station when we went together for work,” he added.

Seven out of eight job seekers reached Kerala on Sunday. They recorded their statements with the Kalamassery police.