On April 25, Phuoc An Commune Police (Tuy Phuoc District, Binh Dinh) said that it had issued a document reporting to the Provincial Police Director, proposing to commend and reward taxi driver Luong Quang Kiet (born in 1994, residing in Quy Nhon City) for promptly detecting and preventing a citizen who was lured to Cambodia to work "illegally", suspected of signs of human trafficking.
Previously, at around 11am on April 11, driver Kiet received a lift via taxi application from a young female passenger - N.T.K.T (born in 2007, residing in Phuoc An commune, Tuy Phuoc district) - requesting to transport from Binh Dinh to Moc Bai border gate (Tay Ninh province), an area bordering the Cambodian border.
While picking up T, driver Kiet tried to suggest a story to find out the purpose of the trip. T said he met someone through social networks and was introduced to Cambodia to work as a "computers' hitter" with an attractive salary of 25 million VND/month. This person gave specific instructions on how to move and told T to follow.
"When I received a ticket for 5.7 million VND for a rather long trip, I thought the customer was an adult with financial conditions. But when T got in the car, I was very surprised because I saw that he was too young, dressed simply - "countryside-style", so I started to suspect", Mr. Kiet shared with Lao Dong on the evening of April 24.
To verify his suspicion, driver Kiet requested to receive 70% of the parking fee in advance. Seeing that, T gave Mr. Kiet a phone call to talk directly to an acquaintance online (who was in Cambodia).
"After discussing, this person promised to pay the full amount when I took T to Moc Bai border gate, but I definitely did not agree. After that, this person texted T to get out of the car to catch another taxi. Realizing that there were signs of fraud, I drove T straight to the police station to report the incident," said driver Kiet.
The authorities quickly took action to verify. Through the work, T confessed that he had contacted a number of people through social networks and was invited to Cambodia to work with many attractive promises. After being clearly explained by the police officer the nature of the incident, T and his family pledged not to believe the "easy work, high salary" enticements from strangers online.
According to the authorities, recently, scammers have often targeted teenagers aged 18 to 35, who do not have stable jobs and are easily attracted to easy work tricks and high salaries. There have been many cases of illegal border crossings that have been exploited, forced to work, or fallen into human trafficking rings.
Phuoc An Commune Police recommend that people, especially young people and families, need to be vigilant, manage their children more closely, and absolutely do not believe in invitations to work abroad with high incomes through social networks.
