Cyber slavery: The latest workplace scam that traps young Indians overseas

Indian teenagers who are looking for work overseas have strong reasons to exercise extreme caution. A new fraud known as "cyber slavery" has gained traction in recent months, following recruitment organisations that were revealed to have deceived applicants to fight on the frontlines in Russia and Israel with the promise of abroad employment. Assured IT workers in Asian nations like Taiwan, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia who fall prey to this scam have their passports seized when they arrive abroad and are compelled to work in contact centres that defraud gullible Indians. “When they realise what they have to do is illegal, most of them protest and try their best to leave. But they have no choice since their documents are taken away [at the start itself],” says a police investigator of online scams in Gujarat. “Some, though, take to it to make a quick buck. It is a form of bonded labour of modern times and also goes by the name ‘cyber slavery’.” Data from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' Bureau of Immigration indicates that 29,466 Indians who travelled on visiting visas to Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia between January 2022 and May 2024 are missing. A third are from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Punjab, and half are between the ages of 20 and 39. Of these 29,466 people, over 70% are missing in Thailand. According to investigators, these call centres scam victims by luring them into investing money. Additionally, sophisticated "digital arrest" frauds that have recently swept the public and confused authorities are carried out using video calls with a virtual setup running in the background. These frauds include phishing scams, fraudulent loan schemes, and scammers using dating apps to pose as women in order to lure investors into cryptocurrency. Online betting frauds are handled by a different group of people. Investigators claim that the offer of respectable jobs, primarily data input, is used to recruit the young people. Digital literacy is a requirement. Because the call centers are located in remote areas far from towns and cities, it is challenging for the employees to voluntarily seek assistance. According to investigators, individuals who have been able to return have recounted experiencing physical abuse, violence, and substandard living circumstances with little food and salary. 14 Indians were rescued in Cambodia in July of this year, and another 67 were recovered in early October thanks to tip-offs and careful coordination with the local authorities. The majority of them had been trafficked by shady recruitment firms that worked in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh towns. In Cambodia alone, an estimated 5,000 Indian adolescents may fall victim to these contact centre scams. The Indian embassy in Phnom Penh has reportedly deported more than 1,000 Indians, including over 770 in the first nine months of 2024. Forty-seven young people were saved from Laos in August. A high-level interministerial task force was established to look into the problem and suggest solutions when the home ministry intervened. The panel has instructed immigration offices to strengthen procedures to identify possible victims as they leave the nation and asked all states to collect information regarding missing persons. "Cyber slavery" is defined as a "form of modern exploitation that begins with online deception and evolves into physical human trafficking" by the CyberPeace Foundation, an NGO established in India that collaborates with the government and other stakeholders to combat cybercrime and maintain the safety and security of the internet. According to the organisation, "cyber slavery can occur on a global scale... that leads to real-world abuse and exploitation... severe human rights violations," as evidenced by the numerous instances of people being trapped in Southeast Asian nations. The foundation urges strong preventive measures in addition to social media awareness initiatives run by NGOs and government agencies to curb the threat.

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