Criminal gangs have been luring Macao residents into working in Southeast Asian casinos, promising monthly salaries of US$5,000 (MOP 40,400).
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said that officers had received reports of two local men and three women who had been approached with dubious offers of jobs overseas.
Lei noted that the five victims – two casino staff, a clerk and two unemployed, all of whom are in their 20s – were persuaded by friends and colleagues to consider working abroad.
PJ officers received a report on 4 August from a woman that her younger brother had been introduced by a friend to work in a casino in Laos on 11 July, but he managed to leave Laos on 7 August and is now safe in another Southeast Asian country.
Lei said that PJ officers received another report from a local man on Wednesday, who told the police that he had been introduced by his colleague last year to work in a Southeast Asian country, but finally he decided not to go there. Lei added that the victim had changed his mind after noticing relevant news recently and suspecting that the job was a scam so he reported the case to the police.
Most recently, a woman told the police that her female friend, who was due to leave Macao yesterday for Cambodia, was believed to have been duped into accepting a job offer.
PJ officers contacted two sisters who had planned to leave Macao together with the woman to work in public relations for a casino in Cambodia, and convinced all three to give up the idea.
PJ Criminal Investigator Ng Kin Lok said that criminal organisations are known to entice residents via websites, social media or relatives and friends into working in casinos in Southeast Asian countries, such as Laos and Cambodia, by promising them high salaries.
Ng said that those falling into the trap will be encouraged, forced or even falsely imprisoned to commit telephone fraud. The gangs’ modus operandi may even involve human trafficking, Ng said.
The Judiciary Police urged the public to be wary of overseas job scams, adding that residents should not blindly trust job postings on the internet or unsubstantiated claims by strangers.
Lei said the police are investigating whether the job scams that targeted the five locals came from the same gang. Similar cases have been investigated by the police in Hong Kong and Taiwan, The Macau Post Daily reported.
