Thiruvananthapuram : Raising serious questions on the veracity of online advertisements and job profiles that usually attracts youngsters aspiring for highly paid jobs abroad, the Kerala police cyber wing has managed to uncover details of an international Cyber fraud racket involving Chinese, Thailand and Cambodia nationals with the help of those who travelled to these nations from Kerala in the past 3 years. Three Keralites who have managed to escape from the clutches of the network have informed the police about the modus of operandi and the ‘real picture’ they witnessed.

Preliminary investigation reveals that many of the job aspirants who travel to the South East Asian countries ends up in call centers operated by Chinese nationals who force the agents to reach out to people from his home country and convince him or her to avail the various online schemes and thus ensure that money is been transacted to the respective companies accounts.

As per the statements given by the two Keralites who spoke to the Cyber crime investigation team, youngsters are lured through social media platforms promising highly paid jobs in the IT sector in the South East Asian countries. After satisfied with the ‘job offer’, these youngsters land in countries like Thailand and Cambodia where the air-tickets will be booked by the agent. However, after reaching the destination the company provides them accommodation in high-end hotels. However, within two days the ‘aspiring job applicant’ is taken to an undisclosed location where he will be kept in a room with no connections to the outside the world.

“These job aspirants will be asked to work in a call centre where their main job is to call people from their own country and lure them into offers where the recipient falls prey for the caller and ends up paying a huge amount. The call centre manager gives a specific target to the person and he or she should ensure they meet the targets. If they don’t, they person is being physically assaulted. There are many who are trapped into this network which is been very active for the last 4 to 5 years”, said a highly placed source within the department.

“We don’t have a specific number on this. But many from South Kerala have been trapped into this network and its not just men, even women have fallen into this trap and are part of the network”, the official told News9.

The senior official said that the investigation is underway and more details cannot be said in view of the sensitivity of the case.

The new revelations comes amidst nearly 120 Keralites who are associated with cyber crimes are being repatriated from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam after found working with Chinese firms involved in swindling money from Indians and Arab nationals.

Officials say that a large section of those who are yet to return have joined the crime syndicates involved in cyber fraud and are now looking to return. It was following the detection of a rise in cyber fraud that targeted Keralites and originated from the five countries that the police’s cyber investigation wing and central agencies decided to prepare a database of those who travelled to these nations on a tourist visa and did not return.

One of the official in the investigation team said that many of the victims had expressed their desire to return home owing to the bad experiences they endured from their employers. Many had lost their travel documents, which were in their employers’ possession. They were repatriated with the assistance of Indian embassies in the three countries. In some other cases, the police put pressure on the families of those working for cybercrime syndicates, which prompted them to turn themselves in. However, in the latest case the two youngsters managed to reach out to the Indian embassy after they realized the trap they had fell into and returned to Kerala.