Bayu, a 23-year-old Indonesian man, was lured into a Cambodian scam operation with promises of a lucrative job. He was forced to use fake social media profiles to target unsuspecting Americans, sending hundreds of messages daily. Bayu's story exposes the dark side of cybercrime and human trafficking in Southeast Asia.
An Indonesian man named Bayu, trapped in a Cambodian scam operation, targeted unsuspecting Americans with fake social media profiles. His job was simple: lure victims with flirty messages, get them to reply, and then seamlessly transition to requesting their WhatsApp number. Bayu arrived in Phnom Penh in March 2024 and was taken to Preah Sihanouk province and then Saitaku Resort and Casino, in Samroang town in Oddar Meanchey province, near the Thai border.
After one month and 15 days at work, Bayu was among hundreds of Indonesians rescued from Saitaku Resort and Casino by Cambodian police in April 2024. He worked with the International Justice Mission (IJM) and the Indonesian embassy to share his story. Bayu used fake profiles of Chinese and Japanese women to lure victims on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). His task was to send dozens of messages daily, hoping for a response. He eventually landed in a scam compound in Cambodia, where hundreds of Indonesians, Vietnamese, and Chinese worked under intense pressure. Victims are lured by false promises of legitimate jobs and then forced into perpetrating scams, according to Professor Dr. Selvakumar Manickam, director of the Cybersecurity Research Centre at Universiti Sains Malaysia.These online scam operations are a billion-dollar industry, often based in prison-like compounds. Trafficked victims are forced into labor, scamming people worldwide with devastating financial and emotional consequences. Professor Manickam estimates the annual value of this illicit industry to be $64 billion worldwide, with a significant portion flowing through Southeast Asia. These operations are often housed in prison-like compounds, particularly in countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines. He explains that these areas, including Sihanoukville in Cambodia and Myawaddy in Myanmar, are frequently linked to casinos, which provide cover for these criminal syndicates.As Bayu was struggling to make ends meet in Jakarta, Indonesia, a job offer seemed like a lifeline. The promise of a $1,200 salary from Satim, an Indonesian contact in Malaysia, proved too tempting to resist. The offer, coming through a friend of his father, initially seemed legitimate. However, the situation took a suspicious turn when Bayu was instructed to fly to Malaysia instead of Singapore, his preferred location. After meeting Satim and being passed to another contact, Bayu was eventually flown to Phnom Penh, where he found himself trapped in a web of deception
CYBERCRIME HUMAN TRAFFICKING CAMBODIA ONLINE SCAMS INDONESIAN
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