Two Karnataka youth rescued from Chinese-operated scam compound in Myanmar

Karnataka Cyber Command, with support from central agencies and the Indian Embassy in Myanmar, rescued two Karnataka youths from a Chinese-run scam compound in Myanmar. Officials urged caution against fraudulent overseas job offers linked to cybercrime and human trafficking networks

Bengaluru: Karnataka Cyber Command, in close coordination with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Embassy of India in Myanmar, has successfully secured the release of two Indian nationals from a Chinese-operated scam compound in Myanmar, officials said on Wednesday.

Both youths, who are residents of Karnataka, have been safely repatriated and recently reached their homes, they said.

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According to police, acting on specific information shared by a Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate, the Karnataka Cyber Command immediately took up the matter.

“Through seamless inter-agency coordination with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and continuous engagement with Indian Embassy officials in Myanmar, the rescue was effected in record time,” Pranab Mohanty, Director General of Police, Karnataka Cyber Command, said in a statement.

The operation underscores the effectiveness of real-time intelligence sharing and diplomatic-law enforcement coordination in protecting Indian citizens abroad, it said.

The compound, situated in Myanmar’s border region, is one of several facilities controlled by Chinese syndicates. These centres are known to force trafficked individuals into large-scale online romance scams and investment (“pig-butchering”) frauds targeting victims worldwide, it said.

Timely intervention was crucial in saving the lives and futures of the two young men, police said.

The Karnataka Cyber Command has strongly advised young citizens to exercise extreme caution before accepting job offers in Southeast Asia, particularly those promising high salaries for “IT”, “customer support”, “data entry”, or “online marketing” roles that require travel to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, or Cambodia.