Gangs target Gujarat youth with fake jobs abroad, force them into digital slavery

Time of India

14 hours ago

SLUG: TRAFFICKED ACROSS BORDERS
Ahmedabad: What began as a dream job offer abroad turned into a nightmare for a youth from the city, who fell victim to a cyberfraud and was trafficked across borders.
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The victim's first-person account, now part of the cybercrime police investigation, reads like a crime thriller filled with deceit, conspiracy, and extortion.
The victim recalled how a man named Abhishek Singh lured him with promises of safe employment in a Bangkok-based IT company called I-Tech. "I was working in I-Tech in Bangkok for the past seven months… there is no tension here, only simple data entry work," Singh assured, persuading him to book tickets for Thailand.
On arrival at Bangkok airport, their ordeal began. A stranger guided him into a taxi where his passport was seized. Driven hundreds of kilometres away, he was lodged in hotels and constantly reassured by Singh. But soon, the assurances dissolved into fear. "You said the company was near Bangkok city, but we have already travelled nearly 400 km," the victim protested over WhatsApp.
What awaited was shocking: confinement in a guarded compound near the Myanmar border, surrounded by armed men and forced to undergo "training" for online fraud.
"We were told to call citizens of different countries and trick them into financial frauds," recalled the victims.
When he refused, he was beaten, his phone confiscated, and locked up for five days. Later, the Chinese handler, identified as "Bulan," demanded a penalty of Rs 3.5 lakh for his release. Under duress, the victim's family arranged the payment and sent it through QR codes provided by the gang. Only after the money was transferred was he released and pushed across the border in a boat before finding his way back to Bangkok and eventually flying home.
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Cybercrime officers said the case was part of a growing pattern where young Gujaratis are tricked into foreign job offers but end up enslaved by cyberfraud gangs run from Myanmar and other regions. "Young men from Gujarat are specifically targeted and confined to carry out online frauds. It is made to look like legitimate employment but is nothing more than digital slavery," a cybercrime officer explained.
The ordeal left the victim scarred but determined to warn others. He secretly recorded videos during captivity, which later became crucial evidence. His words echo the constant threats he faced: "If you refuse to work, remember you have already crossed illegally into Myanmar. You will be treated as a criminal anyway."