FBI warns of rise in scammers who enslave job seekers

FBI urges people to be careful with fake job postings being used to lure job seekers into scams in Southeast Asia.

In recent years, the number of such schemes, which are carried out mainly by Chinese organized crime groups, has increased significantly, with Cambodia being the epicenter of this industry, and Myanmar increasingly becoming a kind of distribution center. Workers fall into traps where they conduct operations “butchering a pig” ( Pig Butchering ) – deceive people over the Internet and by phone, convincing them to invest in fake cryptocurrency services and stealing the invested funds.

Labor slavery used to be associated with dangerous physical work, but cybertrafficking in Southeast Asia requires a well-educated population with skills in technology and languages, so syndicates are actively looking for workers from this region.

According to the FBI, the perpetrators are luring victims, mostly in Asia, into job scams by posting fake jobs on social media and online job boards. The advertised positions offer technical support jobs with high salaries and good conditions.

The FBI’s warning is directed at US travelers, but the victims are from around the world, with most of them from Asia.

Upon the arrival of applicants in another country, criminal elements force victims to conduct fraudulent schemes with investments in cryptocurrency in various ways. Some of the tools of coercion are the confiscation of passports and travel documents, and the use of violence. Fraudsters also extort fictitious debts from job seekers, such as for a flight, which they are forced to repay by conducting lucrative scams.

The FBI is advising job seekers to research a company before accepting a job offer, be wary of overpaying, and share employer and contact information with friends and family.

In April 2023, the anti-trafficking organization Humanity Research Consultancy reported that he knows about the victims from more than 20 countries who were lured into such traps. Among the countries are Southeast Asia, the USA, Brazil, China, India, Russia, Vietnam and others.

FBI already warned about such a scam in October 2022 to raise awareness among crypto investors who are increasingly falling victim to this type of scam.