"Easy work, high salary" trap

Living in fear

“My workplace in Myanmar is an old house, near the edge of the forest, quite far from residential areas, strictly guarded, surrounded by electric steel fences. I thought I would be working in a real business here, but they locked us in a secret basement to participate in an online fraud ring. Every day, I had to work from 8am to 9pm and had to complete a target of 20 million VND. If I didn't have enough, they cut my meals and forced me to work overtime. It was difficult to escape because of strict security,” NVT, from a purely agricultural commune in Nam Sach district, told us over the phone about his life in Myanmar. Previously, T. was lured to work in Myanmar. Although he was rescued and returned to Vietnam, T. does not dare to return home and does not want to give anyone his contact information. Even T.'s family does not want to share information with us. "I'm very afraid that they will come to my house and make things difficult for my relatives," Mr. T. shared.

Not as lucky as T. who was able to return to Vietnam, another worker named C. in Tu Ky district is still trying to contact his family waiting for rescue. C.'s family said that C. has tried many ways to contact his family but it is very difficult. If they discover him, he will be beaten. Once, C. called home in a panicked voice: "Mom, help me! I was tricked into going to Cambodia, locked up to work in a fraudulent company. If there are no customers, I will be beaten and starved...". C.'s family has reported to Tu Ky district police for support and is very worried, hoping that one day C. will be rescued and returned home.

In Hai Duong, many workers are lured by the "easy work, high salary" offers and fall into the trap of scammers. There are cases where they have lost their lives in a foreign land.

In September 2023, the Criminal Police Department (Provincial Police) received a report and coordinated to find a way to rescue 2 Hai Duong people who illegally left the country for Cambodia and then went to Taiwan to work illegally. Listening to the enticements of the scammers, 2 workers in Chi Linh City tried to cross the border to the neighboring country to work illegally but were brutally beaten by the scammers, who forced their families to transfer 500 million VND in ransom to the account number provided by them.

Taking advantage of the subjects' negligence, Mr. NVT escaped back to Vietnam, while Mr. HVM lost his life in Cambodia.

According to the provincial police, recently, through job searches on social networks or through friends and acquaintances' invitations and introductions, many Hai Duong workers have gone to Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia to work. Initially, they offered attractive salaries that workers could receive from 800-2,000 USD/month (equivalent to 20-50 million VND/month) along with many other attractive benefits without requiring expertise or qualifications. They even supported entry and travel expenses.

The methods of human trafficking crimes through the form of "easy work, high salary" are increasingly sophisticated and organized. They often set up systematic brokerage lines through many localities. In some cases, they even take advantage of family members to lure relatives into participating in the fraud ring.

After entering the country, workers will have all their identification documents confiscated and forced into prostitution, forced labor, or online fraud rings abroad. Workers who try to escape are brutally beaten. To return to Vietnam, the victim’s family must pay a large ransom of up to several hundred million VND.

There are currently no specific statistics on the number of Hai Duong people who have been lured into illegal emigration and have fallen into the trap of overseas job scams. The police, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and local authorities are working together to disseminate information, find ways to support the victims’ families, and rescue workers who have fallen into the above scams when they report them.

Be alert

Because of the desire to get rich quickly, gullibility and trust, many people easily fall into the trap of "easy work, high salary", becoming victims of human trafficking. Not only are victims exploited for their labor, tortured and brutally beaten, but their relatives also live in anxiety, spending money, time and effort to search and rescue them. Even relatives in the process of searching for them are at risk of becoming the next victims of human trafficking crimes.

Faced with this situation, the People's Committee of Hai Duong province has requested departments, branches, sectors and Steering Committee 138 of localities to strengthen propaganda so that people can recognize fraudulent tricks, enticements of "easy work, high salary" to bring workers to Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia to work. People in the province actively participate in preventing, fighting, stopping and denouncing subjects that entice, broker, and organize illegal exit activities.

Hai Duong workers need to be more vigilant with job referrals through social networks or unofficial channels. If workers need a job, they should seek information from licensed service and job referral centers or businesses licensed by the authorities to operate in the field of labor export to protect their rights, property, lives and protection according to the provisions of the law.

According to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, in the province, there has not been any unit or enterprise registered to recruit Hai Duong workers to work in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar through the above-mentioned channels. The Department regularly sends out notices of recruitment needs and quotas for sending workers to work abroad on the Department's website and directly announces or posts on the Fanpage of the Hai Duong Center for Employment Services - Vocational Education.