Attempts are made to trap fraud victims on social media. (Photo: Pix Hair)
‘Mobiles and documents have been taken away from us and a fake Facebook account of a beautiful girl has been created in a separate mobile, so that we can cheat more people.’
Fayyaz Ahmed (pseudonym) of Nowshera arrived in Vietnam in early October. At first he was very happy and used to sing Vietnamese songs on Facebook and other social media platforms, but now his life has taken a dangerous turn. He has been silent on social media for the past several weeks, as his mobile phone has been confiscated in Laos, near Vietnam, and he has been assigned to trap more Pakistanis and other nationalities.
This year, many Pakistanis have gone abroad in search of employment. There are also those who ignore the legal aspects in the lure of attractive remuneration, due to which they are ‘kidnapped’ as soon as they go abroad.
Many of these Pakistanis opt for Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, which are more likely to get visas easily. However, many Pakistanis are now stuck in these countries, including Fayaz Ahmed.
Fayaz Ahmed belongs to Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These days they are in a country called Laos near Vietnam. He, along with several of his colleagues, contacted Urdu News and described the atrocities committed against them in a town called Bukiyo in Laos.
He said on condition of anonymity, “In this regard, many Pakistanis are helping the local people here and keeping them informed about the media reports.”‘
Currently, many Pakistanis have been pushed into illegal activities in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, while many reports are also being received from Vietnam.
According to Fayyaz Ahmed, ‘I used to do a private job in Pakistan but my brother referred to an advertisement which mentioned about Rs 2 lakh monthly salary, food and bonus. Apart from this, accommodation, medical and transport facilities were the responsibility of the company. After asking us for typing speed and a video, the rest of our information was completed’.
According to this advertisement, Pakistanis are required to work for one year in Malaysia, but you can choose to work more. When Fayaz completed all the details, his visa arrived and he was flown to Malaysia, but a few days after his arrival in Malaysia, he was brought to Laos, where he was accompanied by several other citizens from Lahore and Faisalabad.
According to him, the agents in Pakistan lure the citizens to Cambodia or Malaysia, after which they are sent to Vietnam or Laos on a visit visa.
There are fake companies in these countries, which dupe citizens of many other countries including Pakistan by showing fake documents. The same thing happened to Fayyaz and his colleagues.
His colleague Sikandar Khawaja (pseudonym) says that he was brought to Laos with a fake letter. ‘I don’t want to stay here anyway. I cry everyday because there is nothing like what we were told. They make us do illegal work. They have our mobiles and documents.’
He further said that upon reaching Laos, all their social media accounts are closed and given to run fake accounts. ‘They ask us to create fake accounts in girls’ names. Often they have already created accounts. In which many pictures of a girl are uploaded to show that the account actually belongs to a girl. Then they task us with blackmailing citizens through this account and calling them to Bukio, Laos.
According to him, in Bukio, he is said to trap mostly Pakistani and Indian citizens. On the girls’ accounts, they claim to belong to a rich family, for which they keep uploading pictures of cars and bungalows on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms.
‘They target any girl’s account and download all the images from there, which are later used for illegal activities. When someone asks to talk on the phone, there are girls here to talk to them and seduce them further.’
These illegal companies provide accommodation and food to Pakistani citizens, but all documents are confiscated from them while millions of rupees are paid to the agents.
Khurram Awan (pseudonym) of Faisalabad told Urdu News, ‘We are not allowed to go outside a certain area and our job is only to deceive people on social media. They give our agents 8 to 2 million Pakistani rupees and when you ask for a refund, they demand double the amount from you. I myself have come here with a loan, now how can I give them the money of my freedom?‘
According to him, in Laos, the currency of China works, while they are made to work for 15 hours without pay or for very low pay.
“According to Pakistan time, we work from 7 pm to 10 am. On our return we are given a few minutes to meet with each other, but we can’t discuss anything work-related with anyone in the meeting, as we are surrounded by many people from the company who will check on us for any suspicious activity. do violence.’
Another Pakistani citizen, who did not want to be named, said that he was also paid for this act of fraud.
‘We are also given a bonus. Earlier this scam was limited to America but now its citizens have become cautious and now trying to target Middle East, India, Pakistan and other such countries. If we succeed in deceiving more people, we are paid more money, but the work is illegal.’
According to him, he also contacted his agents in Pakistan but now they are also not cooperating. He says, ‘Many people are being brought from Chakwal, Faisalabad and Lahore at the end of this year. We want them to be careful. Only fraudulent work is taken here.’
In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Urdu News last month that citizens should check the legal aspects before going to any country.
To the questions of Urdu News, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that ‘Our diplomatic mission in Cambodia has taken steps to return Pakistani citizens who are suffering from these difficult situations and steps should be taken to return them to Pakistan as soon as possible. will.’
He said that ‘since January 2023, the repatriation of 90 such Pakistani citizens has been made possible.’
