SEPANG: Another 24 Malaysian victims allegedly duped by high-paying job syndicates in Cambodia returned home today.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said they were among the 148 Malaysians who had fallen victims to such job scam syndicates.
"There were 27 victims who were supposed to be brought home. However, only 24 of them could return to Malaysia.
"The remaining three victims will need to go through legal process before being allowed to return to the country," he told reporters after meeting the 24 returning victims, aged between 20 and 30 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (klia2) here today.
He said another 29 Malaysian victims were still in Cambodia, with seven being held by the authorities in the immigration detention depot in Phnom Penh, while another 22 were confined in Sihanoukville.
A total of 118 Malaysians have been rescued so far.
Saifuddin highlighted that most victims had fallen prey to the modus operandi that offered them jobs with lucrative salaries through social networking sites such as Facebook, Telegram and WeChat.
"I would like to take this opportunity to advise Malaysians to always be on alert regarding job offers abroad.
"Please continue to be wary and cautious with job offers received from abroad and to contact the Malaysian authorities to ensure the legitimacy of the companies," he said.
He added that the success of bringing home the 24 Malaysians resulted from continuous cooperation between the police and the Cambodian authorities.
"The ministry will continue to establish close cooperation with the police and Cambodian authorities to curb this issue and prevent more Malaysians from becoming victims of such job syndicates," he said.
