India brings home scammed 549 nationals from Myanmar in 2 days

India has brought home 549 people scammed by fraudsters in Myanmar over the past two days, with a fresh batch of 266 Indians landing in the country, officials said on Wednesday. This comes a day after 283 Indians were evacuated by a C-17 Indian military plane.

Advertisement

The rescued had been trapped by fraudsters in Myanmar and repatriated over the last two days, officials said. The latest group was freed from scam centres in Myanmar’s Myawaddy and brought to India via Thailand’s Mae Sot on Tuesday night.

People familiar with the matter said the victims, hailing from several states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, were lured to Myanmar with false promises of IT sector jobs. They were then trafficked to cybercrime centres, mostly operated by Chinese criminal gangs in lawless border regions of Myanmar beyond the control of the military junta.

The Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar intersect, has become a hotspot for organised cybercrime networks. Many victims are forced to work in fake call centres exploiting foreign workers.

Officials said the victims rescued over the past two days were primarily recruited online, with scammers targeting those with IT skills by offering lucrative salaries. Once lured, the victims were transported to Myanmar, where their passports were confiscated, and they were coerced into online scams — often under the threat of physical violence.

Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed the latest rescue and repatriation, stating that 266 nationals had been brought back from Southeast Asia on an IAF aircraft.

“Indian embassies worked with the governments of Myanmar and Thailand to secure their release and facilitate their repatriation,” Jaiswal said.

On Tuesday, another group of 283 Indians was rescued and repatriated under similar circumstances. They had also fallen victim to fake job rackets in Myanmar.

The MEA has urged Indian citizens to exercise caution, verify foreign employers’ credentials through diplomatic missions and check the backgrounds of recruiting agents and companies before accepting job offers abroad.

Over the past three years, hundreds of Indians have been ensnared by criminal gangs running such scams in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.