Η Government India, reports that it rescued and repatriated 250 citizens who were looking for work in Cambodia, only to be forced to carry out cyber attacks and other crimes on the cyberspace just arrived.
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The government explains that these people were deceived into believing that lucrative job opportunities awaited them in the Southeast Asian nation, yet they were forced to become online criminals as soon as they got there.
After being informed by several Indian citizens about being forced into cyber-attacks at the Embassy of India in Cambodia, the country cooperated with the Authorities to track them down and bring them back home.
“Our Embassy in Cambodia is responding directly to complaints from Indian nationals who were attracted by job opportunities in that country, but were forced to deal with illegal cyber-attacks," stated in Communication.
“Working closely with the authorities, some 250 Indians have been rescued and repatriated, including 75 in the last three months alone.“
However, according to the Indian newspaper India Today, there are at least 5.000 citizens who are held hostage in Cambodia and are obliged to perform scams and cyberattacks that have cost almost 60.000.000 dollars in the last six months.
One of the released citizens reports that he had come to Cambodia to fill a data entry job, but instead was forced to live in appalling conditions while carrying out scams coordinated by a group of fraudsters from China and Malaysia.
See also: How cyber attacks work and how you can protect yourself
The person, called "cyber slave", reports that he was told to create fake profiles on social media used to defraud citizens in India and to carry out cyber attacks. His supervisors assigned daily financial targets and imposed physical violence and solitary confinement on those who failed to meet them.
The scammers posing as police officials who communicate with selected victims deemed credible by their social media profiles and threatening them with false accusations about illegal items found in parcels they sent.
At one point, they targeted a high-ranking government official who reported his losses to the Odisha police. The subsequent investigation uncovered eight individuals associated with the massive deception operation.
As investigations by India continue to locate and remove more civilian victims, the revelations shed light on this shadowy international syndicate that exploits the desperation of job seekers to orchestrate cyber attacks. This incident is a reminder of the ever-evolving challenges in the cybersecurity and the importance of international cooperation in the fight against cybercrime.
See also: Education sector: Cyber-attacks and ways of protection
Cyber-slavery refers to the exploitation of people through digital platforms. This can include forced labour, human trafficking, exploitation of sexual labour and other forms of exploitation. The term 'cyber-slavery' is relatively new and has emerged with the rise of digital technology. This type of slavery uses technology to control, intimidate and exploit victims. Cyber-slavery can take many forms, but they all have in common that they exploit victims through digital technology. Furthermore, cyber-slavery is also considered to be the exploitation of citizens to carry out cyber-attacks, as in the case of the citizens from India.
Source: bleepingcomputer
