Cyber criminals are forcibly confining, physically abusing, and subjecting Indians who have gone to Cambodia and Laos for jobs to shock treatment, forcing them into duping fellow Indians. Cyber slavery is on the rise, with data showing that over 65-70 per cent of lost money originates from Southeast Asia.
The matter has escalated to the highest levels, with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, along with central intelligence agencies and NIA, working to address this new threat to the Indian financial system. A meeting was held at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology office where social media intermediaries were urged to proactively curb these activities. Company-specific recommendations have been issued to intermediaries.
According to I4C, fake call centres employ a multilayer bank transfer system, moving money through up to nine banks before converting it into cryptocurrency or withdrawing it abroad. Cyberslaves, stock market experts, and various cyber gangs operating from compounds in Southeast Asia, especially in countries like Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, have siphoned off over Rs 7,061 crores in public funds in the first four months of this year, prompting over 600,000 complaints received by I4C.
The Indian government has frozen debits from 3.25 lakh mule accounts in the first four months of this year, and more than 3,000 URLs and 595 apps have been blocked under Section 69A of the IT Act. Indian agencies have also suspended 5.3 lakh SIM cards and 80,848 IMEI numbers since July 2023, according to I4C data.
Modus Operandi
Cybercriminals looking for jobs get ads through their cookies and search history on social media apps. The criminals who run the whole system publish ads on social media sites and spend a lot on these ads, a senior MHA official said. Also, through local contact in India, these fraud companies get help from Indian agents to send young job seekers to countries like Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand.
“After short listing the candidates based on their communication skills they take some money and arrange tickets to these countries. Once they arrive, these individuals are taken into one place and asked to surrender their passports,” the official said. Once they give their passports, fraudsters deploy them in different compounds where armed musclemen are deployed. They give a system to them along with phone numbers and other details of Indians to dupe them.
“Those who refuse are physically abused, subjected to shock treatment, and have their passports confiscated to prevent them from returning home. Left with no choice, these Indians fall victim to cyber slavery. Victims proficient in English are lured and fraudulently sent to Laos and other countries where they are compelled to work in fake call centres,” another government official told News18.
NIA Investigation
Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) intensified its investigation into a case involving human trafficking and cyber fraud under IPC sections and the Emigration Act. The NIA conducted raids across multiple locations in Haryana, Delhi, and Rajasthan to uncover the involvement of various suspects in the human trafficking and cyber fraud operations in Laos.
Five locations across these states underwent thorough searches by NIA teams as part of their crackdown on individuals and travel agents engaged in trafficking vulnerable Indian youth to the Golden Triangle SEZ in Laos. These locations were associated with aides and offices of the main accused, Balwant alias Bobby Kataria. NIA investigations revealed that the suspects allegedly managed victims involved in trafficking, as well as logistics and recruitment for a cyber fraud company in Laos.
The human trafficking syndicate under investigation operated from Gurugram and other regions within and outside India, focusing on recruiting, transporting, and transferring victims from India to the Golden Triangle SEZ in Laos.
What UN Says
The UN office on drugs and crime has termed frauds originating from Southeast Asia as a hidden and accelerating threat. In the latest report, UNODC has said that “Southeast Asia faces unprecedented challenges posed by transnational organized crime and illicit economies, and in recent years has become a testing ground for new technologies.”
“According to officials, victims included many skilled workers with information technology expertise, among others, who had been lured into the country through social media advertisements promising high-paying jobs at casinos and hotels who were ultimately deceived and trafficked into heavily guarded compounds for forced criminality – namely perpetrating cryptocurrency-based romance and investment scams,” UNODC said.
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