‘Cyber slavery’: The new job con trapping Indian youth abroad

Indian youth seeking jobs abroad have good reason to be very cautious. Close on the heels of recruitment agencies, on the promise of overseas employment, being found to have misled aspirants to battle frontlines in Russia and Israel, a new scam of ‘cyber slavery’ has gained ground over the past few months.
Assured IT jobs in Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Taiwan, victims of this fraud have their passports confiscated upon landing on foreign soil and are forced to work in call centres scamming unsuspecting people back in India.
“When they realise what they have to do is illegal, most of them protest and try their best to leave. But they have no choice since their documents are taken away [at the start itself],” says a police investigator of online scams in Gujarat. “Some, though, take to it to make a quick buck. It is a form of bonded labour of modern times and also goes by the name ‘cyber slavery’.”
According to data from the Bureau of Immigration in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, 29,466 Indians who had travelled to Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia between January 2022 and May 2024 on visitor visas are missing. Half of them are in the age group of 20-39 and a third from Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Almost 70 per cent of these 29,466 individuals are missing in Thailand.
Investigators say these call centres make calls to lure people into making investments and con them. Also, video calls with a virtual set-up in the background are done to perpetrate elaborate ‘digital arrest’ scams that have lately flooded society and flummoxed authorities. The frauds include phishing scams, bogus loan schemes and luring investors into cryptocurrencies through scammers posing as women on dating apps. Another set of individuals handles online betting scams.
The youth, investigators say, are recruited with the promise of legitimate jobs, mostly of data entry. A prerequisite is digital literacy. The call centres are set up at isolated facilities away from towns and cities, making it difficult for those working there unwillingly to seek help. Incidents of violence, physical abuse and poor living conditions with meagre pay and food have been reported by those who have managed to return, say investigators.
As the problem intensified, embassies in various countries were alerted by the Indian authorities. Based on tip-offs, and in close coordination with the local police, 14 Indians were rescued in Cambodia in July this year and another 67 in early October. Most of them had been trafficked by rogue recruitment agencies operating in towns of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
It is estimated that 5,000 Indian youth could be trapped in such call centre frauds in Cambodia alone. According to reports, the Indian embassy in Phnom Penh has repatriated over 1,000 Indians, about 770 of them in the first nine months of 2024. In August, 47 youth were rescued from Laos.
Following the home ministry’s intervention, a high-level inter-ministerial taskforce was formed to investigate the issue and recommend solutions. The panel has requested all states to gather information about missing individuals and directed immigration departments to tighten systems to identify potential victims as they depart the country.
The CyberPeace Foundation, an India-based NGO that works with the government and other stakeholders to combat cybercrime and keep the internet safe and secure, describes ‘cyber slavery’ as a “form of modern exploitation that begins with online deception and evolves into physical human trafficking”. As seen in the multiple cases of people trapped in South East Asian countries, “cyber slavery can occur on a global scale… that leads to real-world abuse and exploitation… severe human rights violations”, says the foundation. To stop the menace, the foundation calls for awareness campaigns on social media and by NGOs and government channels, besides robust preventive measures.
Subscribe to India Today Magazine