Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Indonesian workers were recruited for jobs in Cambodia involving scamming “clients” on Facebook, a new investigation reveals.
One trafficking victim told VOD English that workers who didn’t reach quotas had to do push-ups.
Another victim said he made a mistake that almost revealed the scam, and was tased and beaten.
A new investigation into the trafficking of Indonesian nationals into Cambodia sheds light on some of the working conditions of those caught up the shadowy world of scamming people on Facebook.
Indonesian nationals told local publication VOD English that they were recruited to work jobs in Cambodia that involved running Facebook scams, and were physically punished if they made mistakes or didn’t meet “client” quotas.
The Indonesian Embassy has said at least 417 Indonesian nationals have been trafficked into Cambodia to work since early last year, and that officials are focused on rescuing them, according to the report.
One of the trafficking victims told VOD English that she was referred to a job recruiter on Facebook through her former boss.
The worker, using the pseudonym “Sky,” told the publication that the job was to make fake Facebook profiles using photos of young Asian women to talk to men on the website to get them interested in investing in a fake cryptocurrency.
The Better Business Bureau recently said Facebook scams are on the rise, with scammers on Facebook Marketplace telling sellers they need to update their digital payment apps like Zelle and CashApp in order to accept payments. A reporter at Insider shared her experience of almost getting scammed on Marketplace when a “buyer” asked her to update her Zelle account.
Sky told VOD English that workers who didn’t reach their quota for “clients” had to do 50 push-ups for each client they were missing.
“I was so stupid to believe him, because I have no choice,” she told VOD English. “If I stay inside [my dorm] and I don’t do anything, I will get more than push-ups.”
Sky and other workers recruited with her said they stayed in a building called Sun Residences in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh where the job was located.
Another worker, going by Aseng, said he was recruited with Sky, and told VOD English he was tased and beaten when he made a mistake while talking to a client. Like Sky, he said he had to get people to invest in a fake cryptocurrency, so the unsuspecting person would link their wallet to the wallet of the parent company. Instead, Aseng sent the wrong link, almost exposing the scam, he told the publication.
Aseng showed the VOD English reporter scars on his arm from the punishment, and told them, “I like this job, but this company hit us.”
Eventually, Sky and several other workers who were recruited with her were allowed to leave the company and go back to Indonesia, VOD English reported. Aseng told the publication he would’ve stayed at the company if his supervisors didn’t beat him.
Read the full investigation over at VOD English.