SEVEN of the eight Malaysians who fell victim to a job fraud criminal syndicate in Dubai and were brought home yesterday were from Sarawak, said Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof. 

Fadillah, who is also Petra Jaya MP, said all the victims were tricked by the offer of a lucrative salary of US$1,000 or about RM4,480 per month, and were instead forced to work for an online gambling company there. 

“They accepted the offer through the Telegram app, which did not specify the nature of work they would do there. They had been in Dubai since last month, then managed to escape on November 30 and ask for help from patrolmen they happened to run into,” he said at a press conference here today. 

Fadillah expressed his appreciation to the Foreign Ministry and the Malaysian Consulate-General in Dubai, which jointly dealt with the issue. 

He also explained that Sarawak Volunteers (a civil society group linking Sarawakian students) covered the cost of the return flight tickets for the seven from the state and another from Kelantan. 

The seven Sarawak people involved are Muhammad Adha Awang Azahari, 23; Mohamad Azam Abdullah, 23; Mohd Izzul Hydad Suhardi, 24; Syed Azwan Wan Abdul Karim, 20; Muhammad Azzaruddin Shah Azmannuddin, 20; Ainul Alif Sait, 28; and Ashraf Salehin Hazmi, 24.

Syed Azwan said he and his fellow victims boarded separate flights on August 24, 25 and 26, and began feeling uneasy when their passports and mobile phones were confiscated by members of the syndicate before they were locked up in a house. 

“While we were there, we were only fed bread and hard-boiled eggs at noon and sometimes plain rice and chicken at night,” he recalled.

Syed Azwan said they were forced to work from 6am to 1am and had their mobile phones confiscated after working hours. 

Meanwhile, Fadillah urged all Malaysians to be careful in accepting any job offer whose salary seems too good to be true. 

“Firstly, check with the authorities about the validity of the job offer and ask them to investigate. I hope Malaysians are wiser from this case,” he said.

Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry in a statement said the case was handed over to police for further investigations.

The ministry said the Malaysian consulate in Dubai had taken immediate action to rescue the victims after receiving information on the matter. – Bernama, December 17, 2022.