Rajasthan Police issue advisory against 'cyber-slavery' for fake overseas job offers
Jaipur, Aug 11
The Rajasthan Police have issued an advisory cautioning young people and their families against fraudulent overseas job offers that can turn into a trap of "cyber-slavery" or digital bondage, officials said on Tuesday.
Acting on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Kumar Sharma, the Cyber Crime Branch of the Rajasthan Police has urged job seekers to remain vigilant while responding to advertisements and recruitment offers promising lucrative employment abroad.
Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime), V.K. Singh, said that international cyber-fraud syndicates are increasingly targeting unemployed and ambitious youth by offering them attractive salaries, free accommodation and other benefits in Southeast Asian countries.
According to the advisory, countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand are being used by criminal networks to lure victims with seemingly genuine employment opportunities.
Young people, particularly those seeking quick employment and high-paying jobs, may be persuaded to travel abroad after being promised positions in sectors such as customer service, data entry, digital marketing or other office-based work.
However, upon reaching the destination, victims may find themselves in a completely different situation. Their passports, identity documents and mobile phones may be confiscated, restricting their ability to leave or contact their families.
In some cases, they may be confined to guarded premises and threatened or coerced into carrying out online scams. The victims can then be forced to deceive people through fake investment schemes, fraudulent customer-support operations, cryptocurrency scams and other forms of cybercrime.
Those who refuse to comply may allegedly face physical or psychological intimidation.
The Rajasthan Police have advised youth and their families to verify the credentials of foreign employers and recruitment agencies before accepting any overseas job offer. They have also been urged to check employment contracts, visa details and the legitimacy of travel and accommodation arrangements.
The advisory further cautions against making large advance payments to unknown agents or travelling abroad solely on the basis of social-media advertisements or messages offering unusually high salaries.
The police stressed that an attractive overseas job offer should not come at the cost of personal safety and freedom.
Families have also been encouraged to stay in regular contact with relatives travelling abroad for employment and immediately report any suspicious recruitment activity or signs of coercion to the authorities.
— IANS
Reader Comments
🙏 This advisory is much needed. The modus operandi is very systematic - they even arrange the visa and travel, which makes it look so genuine. But once you land, they snatch your phone and passport. Parents need to be extra careful too. If your child suddenly stops video calling or is vague about their location, that's a red flag. Share this with every family you know.
Good initiative but I wish they'd also crack down on the local agents here. These touts operate openly in Jaipur and other cities, and they have sophisticated operations with fake offices and forged documents. The advisory is helpful, but actual enforcement against these recruitment agencies would deter them far more effectively.
This is happening globally, not just to Indians. I've read reports of people from the US and UK being lured to Myanmar too. The key is to always verify through official government channels - like the Ministry of External Affairs or the Indian embassy - before accepting any overseas job. Good to see Indian police taking proactive steps. 👍
As a retired bank officer, I always tell young people - if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. No legitimate employer offers free accommodation, extravagant salaries and no selection process for a simple data entry job. My advice to parents: don't let your children travel on tourist visas for employment, and always double-check the embassy's approval. The DGP's effort is commendable but the real test is whether this message reaches rural areas where such frauds thrive.
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