Trapped with fake job offers, Telangana victims reveal Myanmar horror

HYDERABAD: Deceived and tormented – that's how most Indian nationals rescued from the cybercrime den of Myanmar, described their journey. Recalling their harrowing experiences, they said how they were tricked into the trade with false job offers and coerced into defrauding NRIs based in the US, using pressure tactics. They were tortured if they didn't oblige.

"We created false profiles using images from Instagram and engaged victims in staged conversations called first chat and deep chat. The first two days were casual chats to gain trust. By the third day, we would claim to have invested and received profits. The goal was to persuade them to invest," said Telangana resident, Kokkirala Madhukar Reddy, speaking to TOI from Mae Sot. He had found the job listing through a Telegram link.

Codename to mask identity
Reddy had left Hyderabad on Dec 17 last year and travelled through Bangkok to reach Mae Sot on Dec 18. From there a telecaller from the scam centre guided him, booking his transport and accommodation. He crossed the Moei River by boat into Myanmar. While he was promised a data entry job, he was soon assigned tasks to target US NRIs under the codename ‘Mills'.

"Our role was to convince people to invest in the Proledgers.cc application, promising them returns of 20% to 60%. It was all fake," Reddy said, adding, "Once victims invested $1,000, they were shown small returns to build confidence. Larger investments followed, often reaching $100,000 to $200,000. When victims attempted withdrawals, they were asked to pay a ‘tax' of $30,000 or more, effectively trapping them in the scam."

According to him, there were countless SIM cards in use. Translators helped with communication between Chinese handlers.

"We were given systems and iPhones to manage the fraud. The building in KK Park had an office on one floor and accommodations on another. There were multiple scam companies operating in the same facility," he added.

While Myanmar's scam centres had no capacity for AI video calls, the cybercriminal networks in Laos employed AI deepfakes for video calls, preventing victims from identifying the scammers, said Reddy.

Coercion & electric torture
Dharma, also known as MV Patel from Gujarat, was given the codename ‘Austin'. He was recruited by an agent named Hitesh with promises of a high-paying job in Thailand. However, after arriving there, he and others were forced to cross the Moei River into Myanmar, where they were made to sign contracts under duress. Predictably, he immediately realised it was a scam. "The task was to lure victims into cryptocurrency investments. The application was Chinese-owned but the operations were run locally," Dharma told TOI.

Those who resisted faced severe consequences. "If we refused to cooperate, they deducted our salaries. If we continued to resist, they locked us in dark rooms. In extreme cases, they used electric shocks as punishment," he recalled.