“There are cases where people are kidnapped after being deceived by offers like ‘Just deliver these documents and you’ll make a fortune’ or ‘We’ll cover your airfare if you travel with us’.” – Jeong Myung-kyu, president of the Korean Association in Cambodia.
As kidnapping and torture incidents involving South Koreans in Cambodia continue to rise, online job postings enticing individuals to Cambodia with offers of “high-income part-time work” are still circulating, raising serious concerns.
In a single day, 20 job listings for overseas telemarketers appeared online.
Yonhap News reported on Monday that a post appeared on a community job board around 2 p.m., seeking “TM (telemarketing) employee” to work in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, advertised as “the ultimate high-income job.”
The post’s author claimed average monthly salaries ranging from 15 million to 30 million KRW (approximately 10,465 to 20,929 USD), boasting that one employee earned 45 million KRW (31,394 USD) last month. The ad urged, “Stop struggling in low-paying jobs. Seize the opportunity to earn quickly and reclaim your life.”
The post also assured, “There is no risk of confinement or assault; we don’t engage in such meaningless things. Our management is solely focused on a ‘win-win’ mindset where we work together to maximize earnings,” confidently claiming there were no security concerns.
That day alone, over 20 job listings appeared on the site, seeking telemarketers for overseas work under the guise of high-paying opportunities. In a private Telegram chat room with approximately 7,800 members, someone responded to a job inquiry with, “Can you bring three bank accounts and a mobile OTP (one-time password) generator to Cambodia? We can offer you 5 million KRW (3,488 USD) a month.” This exchange strongly suggests a connection to illicit bank account recruitment.
The alarming reality is that many individuals, enticed by such posts, end up in Cambodia only to fall victim to voice phishing or romance scam operations, resulting in confinement and torture. Jeong Myung-kyu, president of the Korean Association in Cambodia, cautioned on the CBS radio show “Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show” that “Most victims are people in dire financial straits who convince themselves, ‘This time will be different,’ only to fall into these traps.”
“Just Deliver Documents” Job Post Also on Karrot in May
Anxiety is also spreading as a job posting from the popular local marketplace app Karrot, dating back to May, is being shared among netizens. The ad promised a payment of 400,000 KRW (approximately 219 USD), stating, “Looking for someone to deliver documents to Cambodia. We will provide a round-trip flight ticket.” The post has since been deleted.
A Karrot spokesperson stated, “The problematic job listing was posted in May and removed within 12 minutes of verification. We have now implemented a complete ban on overseas job postings to prevent their automatic display.” Police also plan to block suspicious posts through their cybercrime units.
Lee Man-jong, a professor in the Department of Law and Police Studies at Howon University, warned, “Young people struggling in this economic downturn must not fall for the outrageous bait set by ‘professional criminals.’ The government needs to respond diplomatically, conduct thorough investigations, and work diligently to swiftly remove and block suspicious job postings.”
