BUKIT MERTAJAM: Yet another family from Penang is seeking help from the authorities for the safe return of their loved one in Cambodia, believed to be a victim of a job scam syndicate.
Housewife Khor Cha Bo, 68, from Bukit Mertajam here, has been having sleepless nights after the family received a message from her youngest son, Tay Poh Chai, 39, where the latter told her that he was being confined in Cambodia and needed US$15,000 to secure his release from his current employer.
In his May 28 message - the last time Khor heard from her son, Poh Chai told his mother that he needed the money by the following day afternoon.
"My son told me that if we failed to raise the money, they would sell his internal organs.
"I am worried sick about his safety. I have not been able to sleep since receiving that call.
"I am not working. Poh Chai's brother, Poh Heng, 43, is just a hawker. Where are we to find the US$15,000?" she told a press conference at Bukit Mertajam member of parliament Steven Sim's service centre here yesterday.
Present were Sim and Poh Heng.
The family lodged a police report on the same day they got Poh Chai's message.
Khor said she tried talking Poh Chai out of going to Cambodia when he first told the family of his intention to do so in November last year.
Poh Chai left the following month and was rarely in contact with his family.
"From what I know, Poh Chai went with a friend from here and another girl from Kuala Lumpur.
"All he told me was that he was offered a job, supposedly in online gambling, with a salary of between RM8,000 and RM9,000 a month.
"I did speak to him previously and asked him if he was being paid well. He told me his salary was being deducted in the hundreds each time he made any mistake. Sometimes, he was left with only a few hundred ringgit at the end of the month and had to use the money for food.
"He even told me that he was being threatened by the syndicate with an electric taser. I am appealing to the authorities to help me out," she added.
Meanwhile, Poh Heng said Poh Chai had told the former's daughter (during one of their previous conversations) that he was thinking of ending his life.
"It seems that my brother cannot withstand the pressure anymore.
"All he wanted was for a better future and this happened," he said, adding that Poh Chai worked as an electrical technician here before leaving for Cambodia.
Meanwhile, Sim said Khor and Poh Heng approached him yesterday to seek his help in this matter.
He said he immediately contacted the Foreign Minister's office to relay the family's ordeal and furnish them with Poh Chai's particulars.
"I was told the embassy would be in contact with the Cambodian authorities on this issue.
"Poh Chai is not the only victim from Malaysia in Cambodia. There are many more cases.
"It is my hope that the Malaysian government will work speedily to prevent more Malaysians from falling victim to such job scam syndicates," he said.
Sim also advised Malaysians not to easily fall for offers of jobs with attractive salary, without knowing the background first.
On May 11, the families of two men from Penang, both 20 years old and believed to be victims of a job scam syndicate, also appealed to the Malaysian government for help to bring them home safely.