Panaji: An engineering graduate from Goa, who was lured on the promise of job opportunity in Southeast Asian countries and made to indulge in cybercrime and other fraudulent activities has been repatriated.
The Goan youth was brought back to the state on Tuesday night by a cyber crime police team, said Cyber Crime SP, Rahul Gupta.
The Goan youth is among the 283 Indians, who were stuck at the Thailand-Myanmar border after being rescued from scam call centres in Myanmar. A C-17 Indian military transport plane evacuated them.
Referring to the case, Gupta said that in January 2025, the Goan youth, seeking overseas employment, came across a recruitment advertisement on Instagram for a call centre job in Thailand.
“The job offer included attractive terms such as free accommodation, food and a monthly salary of Rs 60,000. The recruitment process was conducted entirely online, with the individual communicating with the agent via WhatsApp without any direct interaction. The agent facilitated his travel arrangements, including the booking of his flight to Bangkok,” said Gupta.
Upon arrival in Thailand on a tourist visa on January 14, 2025, the Goan youth was initially accommodated at a resort in Mae Sot. The following day, he was clandestinely transported across the border into Myanmar via a river crossing.
“Upon reaching Myanmar, he was confined within a secured compound, heavily guarded and isolated with no means of independent movement,” said Gupta. Subsequently, he was subjected to exploitative working conditions, being required to work in a 14-hour shift daily without any weekly off.
Gupta said, “The youth was assigned to a team under a foreign national acting as a supervisor. The youth’s role involved sending mass messages to hundreds of potential victims, primarily US citizens, using fraudulent pretexts. Any responses received were escalated to senior operatives, who engaged in further deceptive practices, including investment fraud and honey-trapping.”
“It is again reiterated that foreign-based jobs should be applied only through MEA (Ministry of External Affairs of India)-registered agents. Citizens must stay vigilant and report any such suspecting agents to cyber police station or the local police station. Citizens can also report through 1930 helpline or Cybercrime.gov.in website,” said Gupta.
The Indian embassies in Myanmar and Thailand coordinated with the local authorities to secure the repatriation of the Indian nationals from Mae Sot airport in Thailand.
Goa NRI Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar had told the local media last month that eight Goans have been stranded in Thailand after they were lured by the promise of lucrative jobs and that efforts were on to rescue them.
He had also urged Goan youths who desire to travel abroad in search of jobs to follow the correct procedures when travelling abroad.
