KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 — It is estimated that some 3,000 Malaysians have been lured to countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand by human trafficking syndicates offering lucrative jobs and are now stranded there, Harian Metro reported today.

The Malay daily said the estimated figure is based on complaints and information provided by several NGOs who have initiated their own rescue bid of those said to have been ensnared by the job scam rings.

The newspaper cited Al-Ehsan Islamic Welfare Organisation of Malaysia president Datuk Seri Muhammad Ridhwan Sulaiman who said that the syndicates were also made up of Malaysians who acted as agents to find the victims who were willing to work.

"These agents act to deceive their victims to follow them for work abroad.

"The syndicate agents will impress and convince would be victims with pictures of Malaysians having fun while working,” he told Harian Metro outside the Myanmar Embassy entrance ​in Jalan Ampang here last night.

Muhammad Ridhwan was reportedly there attending a vigil to remember detained, forced, trafficked and tortured Malaysian children in Myanmar.

The gathering was also attended by Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim who was joined by about 100 NGO members and relatives of the victims in urging the Myanmar government to take action to save Malaysians from job scam syndicates.

According to Muhammad Ridhwa, most of the victims were young people who were drawn by the attractive job packages including salaries of up to RM6,000 a month.

The newspaper also reported Hishamuddin claiming that Malaysian embassy staff have been threatened when trying to rescue the job scam victims.

Yesterday, Bukit Aman disclosed that it had received 224 reports from family members and friends of the scammed victims from 2021 up to this month.

Bukit Aman police secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said that of that number, 110 Malaysians have been rescued but 174 are still stranded abroad.

The government has set up a special committee after one of the Malaysian victims, 23-year-old Goi Zhen Feng from Ipoh, Perak was found to have died in a Thai hospital last April near the Myanmar border from severe injuries suspected to have been inflicted by the scammers.

Lawmakers and other NGOs have demanded Putrajaya take proactive action against the human traffickers.

Putrajaya has expressed its commitment to ensuring the return of all its citizens and was making an effort through all channels available to them, after a memorandum was sent to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to seek the government’s assistance and intervention in the job scam issue abroad with Malaysians as the victims were sent in by a group of NGOs.