Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the police had identified 339 scam victims in Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand and even in the United Arab Emirates.

The police have identified two local job agencies who were involved in the job scams, with eight people being arrested from both agencies. Police are currently in Thailand to rescue scam victims.

Out of the 339 victims, 218 were rescued while the remaining 121 were classified as stranded, he said in a reply to a question by Sim Tze Tzin (PH-Bayan Baru).

The police interviewed the rescued victims and profiled them into four groups.

“(In the first group) there are those who left the country with the intention of becoming scammers and they have become successful in it as they conduct love and cryptocurrency scams and reach their targeted KPI,” said the minister.

“When they reach these KPIs, they don’t want to come back. I am being honest in confirming this.

“However, there are those who have failed to reach the KPI and they call the police to rescue them, claiming that they have become victims.”

The second group comprised “victims” who had previously been rescued. “The police were crushed when they found out that there are those who have asked them to rescue them again. I am not making this up.”

The third group comprised those who went overseas to gamble, and then ran into difficulty when they borrowed money from local loan sharks.

When they failed to pay back the money, they would then call the police to save them. The police would still save them as Malaysia strictly adhered to the “right to return” principle, Saifuddin said.

The fourth group comprised those who went overseas as they were genuinely attracted by the job offers, only to learn that the jobs were nothing like what they expected.