Eight individuals who work with a Taiwanese national believed to be a senior figure in a Cambodia-based fraud ring that has duped at least six individuals in Taiwan to travel to the country through fake online job advertisements were recently arrested, police said Thursday.

As a result of the ongoing investigation, a Taiwanese man surnamed Liu (?) and nicknamed An Ke (??) has been identified as a senior figure in a telecoms fraud ring operating out of Phnom Bokor in southern Cambodia’s Kampot Province, according to Kaohsiung Criminal Investigation Corps head Hung Sung-tien (???).

Liu has reportedly instructed his associates in Taiwan to find people to work for the ring, offering a reward of US$3,000 per person sent to Cambodia, Hung told a press conference.

A total of eight people were arrested from Monday to Wednesday for posting job openings on social media platforms and handling passports and tickets for the individuals who believe the false work related promises, Hung said.

The police began to look into this specific case after a Facebook post in which a netizen surnamed Wang (?) alleged more than 200 people traveled to Cambodia after responding to lucrative job offers set up by Liu’s gang, according to local media.

Some of the individuals who have fallen prey to the job scams have their mobile phone confiscated after arriving in Cambodia and are beaten, electrocuted, or enslaved if they do not perform satisfactorily or attempt to escape, the netizen said.

It is known that at least six victims paid a ransom of US$20,000 each to secure their release and made it back to Taiwan, the police said.

The police said the investigation is ongoing, adding that they are also working to arrest Liu and his two Taiwanese associates in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, another suspect identified as Kuo (?) involved in another fraud ring was also recently arrested.

Separately, seven job scam victims returned to Taiwan Wednesday, four from Cambodia and three from Thailand, according to a news release issued by the Criminal Investigation Bureau that day.

One of the four victims who was trafficked to a place named KK park in Cambodia escaped when being transported to Myanmar, the bureau said.

The government has been in talks with Taiwanese business people, religious groups, non-government organizations and local authorities in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar about plans to rescue the Taiwanese victims believed to still be in those countries and bring them back home.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel