Alappuzha: Six Keralites who had fallen prey to a job fraud in Malaysia have complained to the Elamakkara Police in Ernakulam.

A Kozhikode-based is racket is allegedly behind the recruitment to the Southeast Asian country.

This comes close on the heels of a major job scam in Myanmar in which several Indians, including Keralites, were duped and even detained.

Though another gang based in Thiruvananthapuram is also reportedly engaged in a similar fraud, no one has yet approached the police. The scam came to light as four persons escaped from the clutches of their Malaysian employers and returned home.

The scamsters lure youth by promising well-paying jobs in Malaysia. On reaching Malaysia, the person would be held captive and forced to do whatever work is directed by the agent.

Those who fell prey and reached Malaysia through a private agency near Changampuzha Park, at Edappally in Ernakulam, have now complained to the Elamakkara Police.

The Kozhikode natives who were running this agency have been identified though a case is yet to file a case, police said.

The police had received as many as 21 complaints against the same agency in different police stations earlier.

Modus operandi
The fraudsters find their unsuspecting candidates from WhatsApp groups and Facebook.

Though the candidates are promised a job visa initially, they are given a tourist visa for 30 days, said the complainants who managed to flee from Malaysia.

On raising doubt about the visa, the agents assure that they would get a job visa within three months after reaching Malaysia. As the money won’t be refunded, job seekers are forced to leave on a tourist visa.

They would also be told that the company vehicle would reach the airport in Malaysia to pick them up.

However, on landing at the airport, they are directed to hire a taxi and reach the company.

Once the person reaches the so-called company office, the passport and all the money in hand would be confiscated by people there.

Soon, they would be forced to do jobs that were not offered. Those who resist the diktats are held captive and assaulted.

Those who returned from Malaysia claimed they had given up to Rs 2 lakh each after coming in contact with two agents.