7 of 8 Dubai job scam victims from Sarawak, says Fadillah

 

Fadillah Yusof (centre) speaking to the media about the job scam victims. (Bernama pic).

KUCHING: Seven Sarawakians were among the eight Malaysians brought home from Dubai yesterday after falling victim to a job scam syndicate, said deputy prime minister II Fadillah Yusof.

Fadillah, who is Petra Jaya MP, said the victims had been tricked by the offer of a decent job with a lucrative salary of US$1,000 (RM4,480) per month but were instead forced to work for an online gambling company there.

“They accepted the offer through a chat message which did not specify the nature of work they would do there. They were in Dubai since arriving last month and managed to escape on Nov 30 by asking for help from local police who happened to run into them,” he said at a press conference here today.

Fadillah said Sarawak Volunteers (an NGO linking Sarawakian students) covered the cost of the return flight tickets for the seven Sarawakians aged between 23 and 24, and another victim from Kelantan.

One of them, Syed Azwan Wan Abdul Karim said they boarded separate flights in August and began feeling uneasy when their passports and mobile phones were confiscated by members of the syndicate before they were locked up in a house.

“We were fed only bread and hard-boiled eggs at noon and sometimes plain rice and chicken at night,” he recalled.

Syed Azwan said they were forced to work from 6am until 1am the next day. Their mobile phones were confiscated after working hours ended.

Fadillah urged all Malaysians to be careful in accepting any job offer that promised a salary that was too good to be true. - FMT