S1E11:
Tricked to death
Video:
https://www.bilibili.tv/ms/video/2044181252---------- start of Video transcript
Rainfalls.
Funeral music plays.
The engine of the hearse idles.
Respectfully, a mother struggles to stop stroking the
urn of her son while her husband stands
motionless beside her it's time but she's not ready
neither of them are it will be the last journey for their
boy weight and film it's a journey that started online with
the promise of love and led him to his death thousands of miles from home
I'm your host Steve Lai and on this
episode of CNA correspondent you'll hear
a story of desperation manipulation and
Devastation that serves as a cautionary
tale for a growing Regional problem
a warning for anyone looking for work in
Southeast Asia job scams are on the rise
this follows the death of a 23 year old
Malaysian who went to Thailand to meet
an online girlfriend only to be forced
to work for scam networks in Myanmar
this story of Zhen Feng is shocking and
sad but sad is still is it's not an
isolated case transnational crime
syndicates operating in countries like
Myanmar Cambodia and Laos have been
luring victims out of their home
countries with the promise of work money
or love and then enslaving them to carry
out scams themselves with violent
consequences if they resist and here to
tell you about Zhen Feng's story and how
these cross-border crime syndicates
operate and what is being done to stop
it is cna's Malaysia correspondent
Melissa go hi Mal thanks for your time
today pleasure let's start with weights
and Fung you followed his story all the
way to his funeral in his hometown in
IPO perak what did you learn about how
he became a scam victim was targeted by
scammers from the very beginning when he
met a girl via social media sometimes in
August last year although he was always
hurt chatting with her online his
parents including the brothers and the
sister none of them have ever seen a
face or know how she looks like she was
never introduced to them because Zhen Feng
said she's really shy but about five
months into the online relationship
Denver told her parents in January that
he's going to Bangkok to meet her since
there's two weeks break before his final
semester began now his parents didn't
say no because after all John bong is
already 23 years old and he's very well
built he knows Taekwondo six foot tall
he should be able to know how to look
after himself
promised his mom that he will be back in
time to celebrate her birthday but he
didn't come home and he didn't call home
either so the parents got really worried
and decided to launch a police report in
February they suspected something bad
might have happened to him but it never
crossed their minds that the sun was
smuggled into miyadi in southern Myanmar
and sold to an online scam Syndicate in
a notorious KK Park and once he fell
into the hands of these scam syndicates
what happened next according to his
father finally called Home in March and
apologized to his mum that he missed the
birthday and he told them that he caught
covet shortly after he arrived in
Bangkok and he's been sick since then
and he needed about 20 000 US dollars
for medical treatment now he said at
first a Syndicate wouldn't believe him
they've continued forcing to scam others
to come over and when he refused he was
bitten again and again by a fellow
Malaysian from the southern state of
Johor but he didn't name him now the
father told me that he could sense he
could hear that the Sun was being
threatened as he was rather evasive and
that was the last time he got to speak
with his eldest son he died two months
later
and do we know what the circumstances
were that led to his death after the
alarming phone call the parents launched
another police report and they were told
that Interpol was alerted but they
waited and waited they heard nothing
from the police while zhongphong's
Health got worse it deteriorated so
badly that The Syndicate finally let him
go according to the nurse at Mesa
hospital in Thailand near Myanmar border
Turpin was brought in in April by a
rohingya lady he was immediately
admitted to ICU his urine was all black
and tenfone died in a hospital a month
later according to a Malaysian
assemblyman who accompanied the parents
to claim the body in Thailand the
hospital listed the course of death as
pneumonia and multiple organ failure
really is quite a dire situation that he
found himself in and all that time it
was all based on a lie the girl that he
had thought he had fallen in love with
never existed yes nobody has seen her
face she's a ghost on the social media
the friend sort of her as new zone or
the goddess until today they have no
idea how to trace who this is but they
know that the sun is a scam victim and
he's gone for the parents they are
utterly shattered I saw them at the
funeral they thought their son was still
alive back in August they saw a video
clip of a young man lying in ICU bed
it's just helpless looking in the
hospital bed and somehow the assemblyman
Mr Sim through his friend in Thailand
and managed to get hold of this video
and show it to the parents and they
quickly identified that this could be
the sun they flew over to Thailand and
rushed to Mesa only to be told by the
hospital that the sun had passed away
three months ago in May so it's been
rather daunting for the family and I
understand they also had to exhume his
body from the grave that he had been
buried in you managed to speak to them
during the funeral what did they say in
order to confirm the sun's death they
had to assume the body from DNA tests he
was Bare it in the Masquerade so you
have to find the body first and exhume
it but first the parents had to pay the
hospital bill that came up to about 20
000 US Dollars it was the most painful
three weeks in their lives having to
wait for the DNA test results the
parents decided to cremate the body
after that and bring back the ashes you
know what about the parents the most was
the fact that despite Zhen Feng being so
ill till the very end he didn't give up
he was trying to reach out to the
parents to save him I saw the video clip
of his final days that he was intubated
his eyes wide open but he couldn't speak
the nurse said he tried to press the
number of parents and the nurse to be
fat did try to call that number and
reach their mother but the mother said
no it's not the son because the patient
was registered under a different name so
the son in the end had to die alone in a
foreign land after being abused and
tortured and he tried till very end to
seek help and it's just so painful to
watch them because the mother was crying
and caressing the urn and speaking to
the urn and yet there's nothing they
could do a heartbreaking to hear the
details of this story melon it really is
a terribly sad situation for the parents
to have to go through and for Zhen Feng
himself of course
sad and tragic are the only words I can
use to describe it but it's not as we
also learned from your reporting an
isolated case it's actually been
revealed to be a much bigger problem
these scam syndicates than first thought
so many parents they are appealing for
help after the death of Zhen Feng sent
shockwaves across the country some took
the case straight to the prime
minister's office
urging for Prime Ismail Sabri to help
bring home their sons others waited
outside embassies I was at Laos Embassy
and parents the ngos where they were
submitting a memorandum urging the Laos
government to help officially the
foreign Ministry said they have received
over 300 reported cases across Myanmar
Laos and Cambodia more than half have
since been rescued and returned to
Malaysia and mostly from Cambodia and
lately we are also seeing some returning
from the notorious KK Park in Myanmar
and some from Laos now as we speak some
young relations are still trying to go
over despite the media reports despite
the objections from their parents
they're driven by jobs by money and
other interests some of those returned
to Malaysia they continue to scam others
to go over to scam their friends to go
over despite having gone through the
audio themselves to attended by money
and some were threatened by they're
worried about their own safety that the
syndicates would come after them if they
don't do so so the problem persists and
this is not the end of it it certainly
isn't it's not the end of our podcast
episode either next on CNA
correspondence you'll hear more about
what authorities are doing about it
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foreign
countries should denounce
I should denounce the activities of
human trafficking okay and I think the
Prime Minister should have a discussion
with the with the countries involved in
the primes of the countries involved to
try to solve this problem
that was Malaysia's former Inspector
General of police Musa Hassan calling
for coordinated cooperation at the
highest levels to stop cross-border
syndicates from Human Trafficking by
enslaving online scam victims to carry
out even more scams you're listening to
me Steve lye along with Melissa go cna's
Malaysia correspondent now we were
talking before the break about how big a
problem this is any time that crime
takes place across borders things get
complicated don't they if it's a complex
situation the former Malaysian police
chief Mr Hassan whom I spoke with
recently said he needs tremendous
political will first of all the
government the prime minister himself
must reach out to his counterparts in
Cambodia in Laos and Myanmar and
ambassadors in these countries said that
they are negotiating with authorities
it's a painstaking process these
Malaysians after they are rescued
they're held in Depot because many of
them have broken the immigration laws of
the country so when they were smuggled
in and some were identified as ring
leaders himself and they may be charged
so the Malaysian police even the
Interpol they cannot do much yes it's
kidnapping it's transnational crime it's
human trafficking it's even murder but
they have no jurisdiction to act in
these countries these are sovereign
states so they need to rely on the local
enforcement authorities the agencies to
help them and it's not easy although
Prime Ismail Sabri has given his
assurance that all Malaysian scam
victims will be brought back home safely
many parents are not convinced they are
anxious the longer they wait they fear
for the worst that the children's lives
are in danger
emulation authorities as you mentioned
before the break have managed to recover
and bring home simulations that have
been caught up in these scams are there
steps that the Malaysian government is
taking to help the other hundreds of
citizens that may be getting caught up
in all of this prime minister Ismael
himself has announced to setting up of a
special multi-agency committee led by a
foreign Ministry to oversee the saint
returner of these Malaysian scam victims
the government has been using existing
channels including seeking help from the
local authorities I spoke with the
Malaysian ambassador to Cambodia his
Excellency Eldin husseini mama and he
said some are more proactive than the
others increasingly he's sharing data
Intel pulling Resources with ambassadors
from other countries like Indonesia
Philippines Thailand because their
citizens were also in the same situation
in the same troubles so to put pressure
on Phnom Penh or to any of these
governments to act it's better to speak
with one voice and also when victim sent
out OS messages there are coordinates
sometimes these coordinates may not be
accurate but if the other embassies
receive similar SOS and coordinates
chances of locating the victims their
exact location is far greater he said
also there will be greater pressure on
the authorities to act upon these
requirements so it's team efforts now
and it varies from one country is
another depending how proactive the
ambassadors are yes it certainly needs
some Regional cooperation right indeed
Regional Corporation is key asean must
come together to protect the region as a
whole from being used by International
scam syndicates to host their operations
former police chief Musa Hassan said
that they are churning out scanners
forcing young Malaysians into slaveries
many are now brainwashed when they come
back as a result they are favorable
their lives even after they are back
there's continuous game others to go
over he also thinks that it's not a bad
idea to actually stop them from going
all the young Travelers especially those
traveling solo at least an interview
before they leave the country so that
they don't fall victim to all these
scams and you know if not a band because
I checked with ambassadors it would be a
bad idea to have a blanket ban because
it will be discriminatory and it will be
buyers on certain countries they can't
issue a travel advisory but they can at
least conduct an interview at
immigration before they leave just to be
sure the syndicates tactics are always
evolving they are moving their
headquarters from one place to another
within the region we are hearing some
Malaysian attract in Vietnam so asean
countries must close all doors in order
to be one step ahead of them already
thousands of young Malaysians have
become scam victims some like some fun
they lost their lives many parents also
lost so much money having to rescue
their children
this church has to end it certainly does
if you're listening and thinking you or
someone you know should know more about
how these scams work there's a CNA
explains article on our website
detailing how you can avoid falling for
such scams but Mel from working on this
story what lessons do you think our
listeners should be taking away so we
are all at risk we have to be vigilant
at all times if the job offers promise
High pay and yet no qualification
necessary that itself is a red flag we
just have to be very careful double
check with the embassies I know
sometimes we let our guard down also we
want to believe many people have lost
their jobs they are desperate for money
we all have a collective responsibility
I throw to warn others to spread
awareness to remind each other the
syndicates may be evolving their tactics
but if the media continues to shine a
spotlight on them and they know the
public is waging an all-out war on them
it will be harder for them to pray and
we've got to make that job harder for
them to keep everyone safe thank you Mel
for talking us through this story it's
been great to have you on today thank
you Steve
there's a good chance that while
listening to the Pod you probably had
that old adage of if it sounds too good
to be true it probably is running
through your head I know I certainly did
so what does it come down to desperation
ignorance naivety blind optimism perhaps
all of the above circumstances certainly
play their part as well the victims have
common traits like poor support
structures of family or friends that
they feel that they can talk to they are
in a desperate situation or they want to
feel special whether it's for a romantic
connection or to profit from an
investment opportunity essentially they
all want to feel like they are winning
at life and scammers know this so you
have to acknowledge the level of
sophistication of these scam syndicates
is forever changing and evolving as they
find new ways to prey on our frailties
to counter this as they get smarter we
have to as well and you and I should do
what we can to look out for each other
online because it's not just money at
risk it's lives too.
The podcast team is made up of Jacqueline Chan, Daniel Lee, Christina Robert, Clara Ong, Steve Lai.
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