HYDERABAD: A 31-year-old man, who was reportedly held in Thailand under conditions described as “cyber slavery”, has returned to India and filed a complaint with the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB).
The complaint alleges that 32 other Indian nationals are still trapped in similar conditions.
According to the complaint, the victim was recruited by an individual named Eknath Goud under the pretext of a data entry job offering a high salary in Thailand. After paying for the opportunity, he travelled to Thailand, where he discovered during the induction phase that the operation involved illegal cyber activities.
“When I refused to take part, they demanded more money and said I would not be given back my passport,” the victim told police.
He further stated: “We were subjected to punishments, financial penalties and sleep deprivation. My role was in cryptocurrency scams involving on-chain wallets, particularly USDT and ETH. We began by selecting Instagram profiles of US-based individuals — typically NRIs or celebrities — and forwarded them to our team leader (a Chinese national) and assistant team leader (an Indian, Punjabi).”
“Once approved, we would use those images to create fake Facebook profiles. Over a period of one to two weeks, once the fake profiles gained followers, we sent friend requests. After engaging with one target, we would send a photo greeting and establish rapport by discussing the image and the individual’s background, eventually asking about their lifestyle and habits.”
“After building trust, we were given a genuine US-based WhatsApp number to continue the conversation. We then persuaded the victim to purchase cryptocurrency via a website controlled by the Chinese operators. The price graphs on these sites were manipulated to display artificially low rates, misleading the victim into making purchases at seemingly attractive prices. The links used were fraudulent.”
The complainant stated that rumours of rescue efforts by the militaries of Thailand, Myanmar and China encouraged him to escape. “I decided to leave the company and reached the Indian Embassy with assistance from military personnel,” he stated.