Victim of human trafficking was forced to scam using cryptocurrencies

Dark stories of human trafficking and financial fraud are beginning to emerge from the shadows, revealing a disturbing reality that many cannot imagine. One such story is that of ‘John’, a Malaysian man whose job search led him to a nightmare.

During an interview with CBC, the man told how he saw a job posting on Facebook, but was eventually arrested in Cambodia, where he was forced to deceive people on the Internet, under threat of being beaten and shocked.

The Malaysian was lured with the promise of a job at a casino and ended up serving four months in prison, having his passport confiscated and ordered to lure investors from Canada and other English-speaking countries to a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platform.

“If we did not follow orders, we would face beatings or electric shocks“, he told CBC.

The scheme he was assigned to work on is known as the “pig slaughter scam,” a cruel tactic in which scammers cultivate an online relationship or friendship to gain the trust of their victims before convincing them to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms.

Victims are persuaded to invest more and more money, watching their ‘investments’ grow on fake investment platforms, until the scammers disappear with all the money, leaving nothing but devastating financial losses.

Human trafficking victim was forced into cryptocurrency scam

The man said it all started when he was fired from a Cambodian casino in 2020 and forced to return to Thailand, where he lived.

After four months without work, he became desperate and saw an online advertisement for a casino that promised a full-pay job.

Shortly after arriving on the scene, he was locked in a room and his passport was confiscated. While in Cambodia, he was forced to target Canadians and other English-speaking Westerners in cryptocurrency scams designed to steal their savings.

“We were always on the fourth floor to eat, work, sleep, shower”he said, warning others to be careful about accepting a job that seems too good.

“Once you enter the fraud complex, it could be over for your life.”

Hazards

When he was forced to run a cryptocurrency scam, the man said his bosses were ruthless. He claims that he was forced to recruit at least fifteen new potential victims a day and that his bosses threatened them if they did not get enough money from them.

He said he was subtly trying to be bad at fraud, but sabotaging the scheme had serious consequences.

“They don’t care about the victim’s feelings – they don’t care about anything.”he said.

“I saw one of them [trabalhadores] Vietnamese people are being beaten terribly… I just saw blood all over their bodies.”he said. “[Ele] used another employee’s computer to say [à vítima]: ‘Do not invest in this site because this site was a scam’ – so he tried to inform the victim that it was a fake investment.”

The man says he was treated better than others because he spoke three languages, which made him more valuable. Still, he was determined to flee the scene as quickly as possible.

He claims he used a messaging app to ask for help on his phone, but his bosses caught him and sold John to another fraudulent company. $11,000.

While working at the new company, the man tried to ask for help again through a fake Twitter/X account. This time he arrived at the International Justice Mission (IJM), a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization dedicated to freeing people from human trafficking.

IJM National Director Jake Sims saw John’s cry for help and was able to save him, working with authorities to get him out.

The operation of these fraudulent schemes in Cambodia highlights the complex network of human trafficking and fraud, taking advantage of both employees and victims of this fraud.

While some victims seek recovery, the fight against these cybercrimes continues, with calls for more action from social media platforms, financial institutions and authorities to combat these operations.