The Centre on Thursday informed Parliament that it has taken notice of instances of dubious firms involved in fake recruitment job offers, having lured Indian nationals mostly through social media channels to South-East Asian countries, and till date, over 6,700 Indians have been rescued from Cambodia, Myanmar and Lao PDR. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha.
“It has come to the notice of the Government instances of dubious firms involved in fake recruitment job offers having lured Indian nationals mostly through social media channels to South-East Asian countries, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and made them to carry out cybercrime and other fraudulent activities from scam centres operating in these countries,” he said.
The exact number of Indian nationals stuck in these countries is not known as Indian nationals reach these scam centres on their own volition through fraudulent or unscrupulous recruitment agents or agencies and through illegal channels, the MoS said.
The Government of India has raised this issue at the political level with the host Government from time to time, the Centre said.
“Missions/Posts take up the issue of rescue and repatriation of Indian nationals actively with the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other concerned Government agencies of the host country like immigration, labour department, home affairs, defence and border affairs and law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Singh, in his response, also shared the number of Indian nationals, including software engineers, rescued till date, with concerted efforts of Indian embassies in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.
These figures stood at 2,265 in Cambodia, 2,290 in Lao PDR and 2,165 in Myanmar.
The exact span of time over which these Indian nationals were rescued, however, was not specified in the data shared. Singh said the Government has established various channels to enable Indian nationals abroad to reach out to the Mission or Post concerned, in case they need any assistance.
“They can contact the Missions/Posts through walk-in interview, email, multilingual 24x7 emergency numbers, WhatsApp numbers, grievance redressal portals like MADAD, CPGRAMS, and eMigrate, and social media, etc.,” he said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) as an attached office to deal with all types of cybercrime in a coordinated and comprehensive manner, Singh said.
The ministry issues advisories and social media posts about the fake job rackets from time to time.
Similar communications are also issued by the respective Indian Missions or Posts abroad through their official websites, social media handles and print media.
“Our Missions in South-East Asian countries issued various detailed advisories, upon receiving such information on Indian nationals being lured by fake job rackets in South-East countries, to job seekers, and advise them to verify all antecedents of recruiting agents and companies before accepting any kind of employment offer and not be enticed and entrapped in the fraudulent job offers in these countries,” he said.
