Cyber slavery: Agent held in Tiruchy

THE Protector of Emigrants (POE), Chennai, and Tamil Nadu Police's CB-CID wing arrested an illegal agent in Trichy who attempted to send three young men from Tamil Nadu to Cambodia where they would be forced into cyber slavery in fraudulent, scam-based companies, an official release on Friday said.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Chennai

The agent was apprehended during a raid at their Trichy office on Friday, after the youngsters were stopped from traveling abroad, the POE statement said. The agent had lured the victims with promises of well-paying jobs in Cambodia, convincing them to pay large sums of money for job placements. To bypass legal emigration procedures, the agent told them to travel on tourist visas and lied to airport authorities about their purpose of travel.

One of them withdrew after realizing the fraudulent nature of the job offer, having learned about the advisories. The other two were intercepted at Kochi airport before they could board their flight. Upon learning the true nature of the employment, they too withdrew.