#scam victims

[gwydionmisha]

Congress saddled scam victims with taxes. A new bill would change that.

Republicans did this cruel and terrible thing; Democrats want to undo it.

#US Congress #Scam Victims #Taxes #News

[levynite]

KUALA LUMPUR: The tiny and sombre young woman in the red long-sleeved blouse – one of only two she had with her – hung back while her three towering male friends laughed boisterously and talked animatedly outside a restaurant in the border town of Mae Sot, Thailand.

The group of young adults – their ages ranging from 19 to 25 – had reason to be joyful. A few days before on Feb 3, they were rescued from KK Garden, located on the Myanmar side of the Myanmar-Thai border. KK Garden’s giant compound has been making the news lately as the base for several scamming centres where hundreds of trafficked Malaysians were reportedly forced to work as online scammers.

Nur Fitriani Abdullah, more commonly known as Fi, remained largely quiet throughout dinner, answering questions posed to her politely but did not volunteer any extra information. It took several meetings before she finally warmed up enough to smile and talk.

Coming from a broken home, the 19-year-old told Bernama she was used to being on her own. The diminutive Batu Pahat native has been forced to support herself since her grandfather, who had been her guardian, passed away over a year ago. His death also forced her to drop out of school without sitting for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.

So when she saw a Facebook advertisement looking for Malaysians to work in housekeeping at a hotel in Singapore for US$1,100 (RM4,923), it seemed like an answer to her prayers.

“(Because of) Singapore and the big salary, I thought okay, I can try doing this job. I decided to go on my own. If okay, then I would ask my boyfriend to join me,” she said.

Instead, her 25-year-old boyfriend Kamil Abdul Hamid decided to come along. Without a passport, she and Kamil were smuggled into Thailand across the Golok River and then the Moei River that runs between Myanmar and Thailand in mid-September 2022.

Her tale largely echoes that of others from Malaysia and other countries who ended up in Cambodia, Laos or Myanmar after answering fraudulent job advertisements or love appeals online.

While job or love scams and the trafficking of people falling for them are not a new problem, the methods used and locations of the victims and victimisers have changed with the times. With the advent of social media and digital technology and Covid-19 pandemic restrictions creating more desperate people, job scams and trafficking have become worse.

And experts say there is little sign of this illicit activity stopping, making the masterminds rich with little risk and leaving many victims traumatised and in worse straits.

What’s changed

Malaysia is one of several transit points for human trafficking in Southeast Asia. Where Malaysia used to be a country of destination for trafficked migrant workers and asylum-seekers, it is now becoming a country of origin for trafficking.

The Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) spokesman Itayi Viriri told Bernama​ that job scams and trafficking of victims have changed beyond the usual established recruitment methods and corridors.

“The kind of numbers we are seeing now and the diversity of the nationalities of the victims, that is completely unprecedented. In fact, we don’t think we have seen that kind of trafficking set up ever before. We think that also says something about the way social networks and online media can be used,” he told Bernama in an email.

Cambodia and Laos used to be the favourite spots for these syndicates but they seem to be losing their lustre in favour of Myanmar. News reports have pegged the troubled ASEAN state, which is suffering from lawlessness and civil strife following the military coup in 2021 and decades-old separatist movements, as the new favourite.

The profiles of victims have also changed. Where syndicates used to target poor and low-skilled workers for the fishery and agriculture industries, now they are recruiting those with some education, Internet-savviness and some skills in English and/or Chinese.

“The way that they choose countries to traffic (victims), it isn’t based on the Asian region, it’s based on English education. It’s English education and Chinese language. They want Chinese translation and English (writers) to run online scams. Malaysians have strong English compared to other countries like Thailand, which has none,” said Judah Tana, founder and international executive officer of Mae Sot-based charity Global Advance Projects.

The US State Department, non-governmental organisations and other experts claim many of the crime syndicates and organised crime elements are from or involve people associated with China. Their middle management tends to be from the same countries as the victims, which means there are Malaysians working willingly as supervisors.

Experts also say the Internet and transnational nature of the offence have made it harder to curb and bring scammers to justice, though not impossible.

Modus operandi

Trafficking people who fall for the job and love scams follow a certain script, according to victims, activists and rescuers. It usually starts with a fraudulent job offer overseas that over-promises or an invitation to chat online with a pretty and receptive girl.

Once hooked, the victim meets up with the recruiter/scammer either locally and is smuggled across the border or receives money or a plane ticket to fly into a transit country. In this case, it is Thailand.

Often, the promised job is elsewhere. Victims only find out the destination has changed after they have embarked on their journey.

Once in Thailand, someone from the company meets the victims and confiscates their passports. Along the journey to the company site, guards keep a close watch on the victims, changing cars and guards every few hours. Security becomes tighter.

The chance to run away diminishes with every step of the way. Victims have reported wanting to escape but were too scared or did not know how and from whom to seek help.

When they reach their final destination – KK Garden in Myawaddy for Fi and friends – they receive their job description, which is to scam people online. If they want to leave, their new “employers” tell them they have to pay the syndicate back the recruitment fees (believed to be RM10,000 per head) and transportation costs.

Fi was devastated when she found out she had been tricked.

“I was thinking, why didn’t they just tell us straight from the start, right? I really regret coming here. Because we know the work is illegal, we don’t want to do the job. But when they threatened me, I thought I would have to work or else I would not be able to leave,” she said.

The syndicate told her and Kamil they had to pay the company RM60,000 each. Her friends, Adam Iskandar Tukiman and Nur Akmar Hamsan, were told they owed the company RM40,000 each.

Their supervisor gave them targets to satisfy. Depending on how successful they were at scamming people, they got perks and cash. If they failed, they got punished with physical exercise.

Anyone who fought back would get beaten, tortured or locked in the isolation chamber. Other threats include being sold off for organ harvesting and thrown into Moei River, which is supposedly inhabited by crocodiles.

Fi said their supervisor would threaten to rape her to keep Kamil in line and to torture Kamil to keep her in line. The threats worked.

Experts say this is forced labour and debt bondage, manipulating and forcing victims to work to pay for the debt they supposedly accrued and for their freedom. The more successful they are, the shorter their stay is. Sometimes, victims turn victimisers as they become successful at scamming and receive lucrative rewards from the company.

Tana, who said he has helped rescue almost 100 trafficked victims, told Bernama the way the syndicates work on victims is almost like a brainwashing programme.

“You can’t say that (brainwashing) has not happened to them in some way, shape or form. That they decided it was okay and they can manage to stay there,” he said.

Aftermath

Fi, Kamil, Adam and Nur Akmar were rescued on Feb 3. Armed with information from Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang, a contingent from the Thai Army went into Myawaddy looking for them. Bangkok-based Malaysian businessman Victor Wong provided information on a fifth victim Lee Zhi Chong, who was also rescued.

Over a month later, Fi still feels guilt for falling for the scam, for agreeing to take Kamil along and for scamming people for money to save herself. Now, she tells people to be very careful when seeking riches overseas.

She and Kamil are no longer together. She told Bernama via WhatsApp that some of his family members blamed her for him getting trafficked.

“But I’m not hurt because it was my mistake in the first place even though I did not ask him to come along and he decided to come with me. But it’s okay, what happened happened. We need to move on and live our lives,” she said.

#scams #scam victims #long post

[romancescams]

What Is Addiction in Scam Victims?

What Is Addiction in Scam Victims?

View On WordPress

#Addition #Post-scam Effects #Psychology of Scams #scam victims #Victim Recovery

[fanfic-gremlin-ft-trauma]

They’re about to go commit tax fraud

#toph beifong #katara #atla #atla fanart #I just love how they canonically scammed people #Toph’s a little crime lord yes but what about her crime lord older sister #I just imagine that on the brief occasion that they stop arguing they are impossible to be around bc #they just #absolutely roast the living daylights out of any poor victim #(or band together to commit various crimes)

[ollieverwooo]

Scammers posing as victims in Palestine

Hello, recently two supposed victims from Palestine messaged me asking for support and to donate. I was suspicious because of the way they spoke, so I asked my best friend about it and it turns out they were scammers posing as victims. @casserolean (THANKS BRO!!)

I'm just posting this so that people are aware of this and thankfully don't fall for it. Here's the accounts that messaged me:

alwaysgreattigermier and originalanchorpenguin

Also, it seems most of their info is stolen off of real Palestinian victims (personally I think thats a fucking sick thing to do), so if you'd like to help the real person you can copy and paste the text to Google.

There's more information here. Thanks for your time

#free palestine #palestine #palestine updates #sometimes i wonder if some people are just genuinely heartless #trending #scams #palestine victims #free 🍉 #🍉 #palestine 🍉 #pls reblog this so others see it #from the river to the sea palestine will be free

[scintillyyy]

not to be controversial but the scammers in robin 54 weren't poor homeless people who didn't deserve what tim did to them, they were implied to be scummy opportunists who came in from out of town just to scam people who just lost everything out of money.

#it's like all the air duct cleaning posts on neighborhood pages on fb #those people aren't desperate they're just hoping to make a quick buck from someone gullible lol #like i know it might seem like tim gleefully slashed the tires of some homeless people #but given he calls them travelers and they appear to have a very convincing set up #i think they're definitely supposed to be read as people who came in from out of town to make a quick buck from desperate people #and they're sleeping in their van because everything is kind lf destroyed right now and motels probably are full if they're open #like yea jack could have afforded to be out what they scammed from him but that's probably not true for all of their victims

[da-janela-lateral]

For some reason I really want to write a fanfic in which Reigen, Serizawa and Dimple go to Rio de Janeiro out of all places to solve a weirdly complicated case (maybe the Black Opala urban legend). The client paid for all trip expenses so why not have some fun while they're there?? There is so much comedy potential in there with linguistic differences and cultural clashes. Spirits and Such's international travel...

#either they're surviving on basic english skills or on shitty google translate. maybe serizawa knows a bit of portuguese cos claw stuff #wait dimple is the funniest option for "understands portuguese”. but he only knows the 1800s imperial era version #serizawa almost falls for the false perfume scam because it depends on the victim's social awkwardness #they'd be HORRIFIED at brazillian “japanese cuisine”. why do the restaurants do that. #serizawa and reigen quickly realizing there is no way they can walk around in suits because the city is hot as hell #reigen accidentally joins a samba circle with pure charisma #they discover about the CHAOS of public transportation #I wanted to make the setting be any capital that isn't Rio or São Paulo but unfortunately these are the most known cities #spirits and such in Belo Horizonte when #anyways I have SO MANY IDEAS this sounds so fun #mp100 #mob psycho 100

[frostytherobot]

haha fun we’re at the point where scam blogs on tumblr are pretending to be palestinians to scam well meaning people out of their fucking money. most people willing to donate are the ones with very little to their names. Cool cool cool

#just had a blog that was made 16 hours ago send me an ask asking for money and it was very clearly a scam blog #they will reblog several posts just enough to make you think they’re real unless you try to scroll all the way down #and see that they make no personal posts except the one asking for money #and the blog is so new it has a randomly generated username #also it is extremely rare you’ll get an ask from someone you don’t know asking for money that isn’t a scam. #if you’re getting asks 99% of the time it’s from a scammer. and it’s fucking gross they’re pretending to be victims of genocide now

[itsmenefertiti]

PLEASE REBLOG!!!

Hello Everyone! I just wanted to warn you from this scam blog, that does nothing but comment under my blog posts in uncivilised manner with the usage of unpleasant and unsophisticated language. I think they do talk in this manner because they have a very weak argument, so instead of voicing their opinion a decent humane manner, they insult you and talk in an awful manner.

You’ll find similar blogs with similar indecency. I wanted to share awareness, because this manner of them is absolutely disgusting and direspectful.

We are not required to tolerate behavior of this kind!

I don’t like to condescend my manners, however, some people unfortunately like @riseofroguesbatmanvillainocblog don’t understand human decency so you have to respond to them in their own language without lowering your morals.

@riseofroguesbatmanvillainocblog stop your despicable behaviour, and repugnant manner. You are a person full of dullness. You do nothing but comment with bad languages under several blog posts as if you have all the time in the world and have no use or any slight impact on humanity. If you think you serve the zionist argument, you’re wrong, even if what you’re stating is right people wouldn’t buy it with that atrocious and indecent manner of yours.

#free palestine #palestine #gaza #israel #genocide #فلسطين #free the palestinians #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #barbarism #غزة #zionists playing the victim as always #scam blogs #zionism #semitism #anti zionisim

[yeahyankee]

FYI to anyone who receives this message on Tumblr Asks

#likely a bot account but what is the point of this #you’re scamming starvation victims now? #how fucked do you have to be #Gaza can barely get aid as it is #scammers #gaza #palestine

[romancescams]

SCARS Q&A Questions & Answers 11/9/2022 With Special Guest Erin West

SCARS Q&A Questions & Answers 11/9/2022 With Special Guest Erin West

View On WordPress

#Criminal Justice System #Erin West #Law Enfocement #Money Mules #Pig Butchering Scam #scam victims #SCARS Q&A #YouTube Video

[deliciousobservationbird]

I don't think words can express how much I want Reddoons to just appear on the Rats SMP as a one-off guest (like Ponk) and just be Reddoons. I want a repeat of Outsiders where he's fourth wall breaking like it's his job. I want Owen Owengejuice to try and stop him from constructing a nether portal in a lore SMP for the second time. I want someone to turn a corner and just "hola".

I am screaming and crying please it would be so good it would be my everything please.

#Rats SMP #lssmp #Reddoons #Bonus if the lifesteal plugin gets added but only for him #Whoever kills him just gets an extra heart and it's never explained #Conversely whoever isn't a good enough scam victim #Is forever haunted by the memory of a crazy Floridian capitalist rat

[wet-toast-slime]

be careful about scams in regards to palestine and gaza relief, its despicable that there are people out there using this tragedy as a way to scam ppl

look at the blogs and look for red flags, and donate to verified sources

#kurpo rambles #if its a blog less than a day old with less than 10 posts? thats a red flag #like i hate being skeptical but these are classic tumblr scams #using old tricks and using palestine and gaza victims to do so #despicable

[bisexual-neco-arc]

already brought this up on Twitter but apparently the guy behind yandere simulator got caught grooming kids for the millionth time and this one was bad enough that his voice acting crew, who’ve done nothing but suck him off every time he’s been caught doing shady shit in the past, have finally walked out on him lmao

I wonder just how bad it is that people are finally, after nearly 10 years of the internet pointing this out, acknowledging out loud what a scummy person this guy is.

#arcade.html #yandere simulator #like as someone who’s followed this shitshow of a game since 2015 #and personally witnessed the various ways this man has used this game to scam and hurt people，mostly young teenagers， #I feel HORRIBLE for the victims #but also. I am not in the least bit surprised.

[lumestari]

alright it is 22:17 pm right now where I live ttpd comes out at 6 am sharp so shooting this off before I go to sleep

see this? taylornation posted this on instagram

on the tracklist it says 12am discussion topics

now

I think that means there are gonna be more tracks. its 3am edition all over again except I think they've learned their fucking lesson and it's the bonus songs going on streaming

if I'm wrong tomorrow I will probably take this down

or not you know to keep my clowning hubris down.

#the tortured poets department #the tortured poets department predictions #silly thoughts before bed #if its not i will claim bad phrasing and act like i am the victim of a scam #my posts

[youcanthandelthetruth]

Texas 💖

#i had the longest weekend on the planet #shitshow of a funeral with the most dysfunctional side of my family #and then my uncle never made it home and he's diabetic so we can't just wait for him to turn up again #i made a chain of logical leaps that felt right in the moment but are confusing even to me in hindsight #but with one phone call i found him in jail in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and then drove two hours to bail him out #all this while I was badly sunburned on my period and covered in poison ivy blisters #did a kafkaesque little routine where every lobby we went into at the jail was empty and there was just a phone on the wall #and someone on the other end would say oh go into the next door down #and that would also be an empty dark room with a phone on the wall where they said to go one more door down #several times in a row #finally found an inhabited part of the building and talked to a sherriff while trying to hold all my arms and legs behind my back #to hide the horrible yellow crusty blisters all over my skin. look like an actual plague victim. feel worse. #keeping it together because i am Handling The Situation #my uncle was so happy to see us he cried #he'd been trying to call for help all day but the jail phone was showing up as Scam Call on everyone's cell #I was hailed by the family as Brilliant Detective: Finder and Rescuer #I went home and laid very still for many hours #anyway in between crises I got to spend a few hours at the beach and that was nice.