New Delhi, Nov 9: For weeks, they lived behind guarded walls, working under threat and deception. Now back in India, many of the 270 nationals rescued from Thailand after fleeing Myanmar’s cybercrime hub in Myawaddy are beginning to speak — of false promises, confiscated passports, and a desperate escape.
Several returnees told investigators that they had been recruited for “IT support” or “data entry” jobs advertised online by dubious agencies. Once inside the KK Park compound — a high-security zone run by criminal syndicates — they were forced to operate fake investment platforms and romance scams targeting foreign victims.
“They took away our phones and passports the moment we arrived,” said one young man from Uttar Pradesh, who managed to reach the Thai border after bribing guards. “We were told we owed money for training and food, and had to ‘work it off’.”
According to officials, the KK Park complex and similar scam hubs across Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos have become epicentres of global cyber fraud, where trafficked individuals are coerced into scams worth millions. A recent UN report revealed that thousands from Asia and Africa have been forced into such operations.
Thai authorities confirmed that more than 1,500 people from 28 countries fled to Mae Sot after Myanmar’s crackdown began. Among them, 465 were Indians — many tricked into the network by agents operating in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai.
The repatriation effort, coordinated by the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and local Thai agencies, marks one of the largest rescue missions of Indians trapped in transnational cybercrime. Officials say the probe now aims to identify the recruiters and human trafficking rings behind the network.
“Many of them are victims, not criminals,” a senior investigator said. “The real culprits are those who lured them abroad and sold them to scam operators.”
For those who have returned, the relief of freedom comes with uncertainty — their savings gone, trust shattered, and the hope that justice will reach the hidden masterminds still profiting from the digital underworld of Southeast Asia.
