The UN’s migration agency is warning that criminal networks have been trafficking hundreds of thousands of people – many of them educated English speakers – to work in online scam centres, and the caseload is growing. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says victims are often lured by fake job advertisements – mostly through social media – promising work abroad, only to get locked up, have their identity documents seized, and be forced through violence, threats and “debt bondage”...
Malaysian police have raided 32 premises hosting online scam activities in Forest City in the state of Johor, arresting 335 people and seizing assets worth about 1 million ringgit (US$245,000), according to the state police chief. The operation was carried out on July 15, targeting two areas that had been identified as hubs for call centres running online fraud activities, Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad said in a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday. Those arrested were aged between 20...