Calling it a “very sweeping statement”, Global Alms CEO Mechelle Moore said while some victims may initially be drawn to work with syndicates involved in scams, many were ultimately exploited or victims of trafficking.

“If they (police) are identifying them as perpetrators or willing scammers, so be it, but I know many Malaysians who may go in as willing scammers only to become victims of trafficking.

“They’re brutalised, locked up and have their passports taken from them. They are transported elsewhere without their consent and find they’re unable to leave,” she said at a forum today organised by Asia Freedom Network.

Moore said the statement reflected a “personal bias” by the government and called for a shift in how trafficking victims are viewed by society.

“Instead of giving trafficking victims the benefit of the doubt, you have that attitude where you have to prove that you’re a victim, not a criminal. That’s not right,” she said.

In July, deputy foreign minister Mohamad Alamin told the Dewan Rakyat that 90% of Malaysians claiming to be human trafficking victims were actually involved in international fraud syndicates.

Mohamad said this information was derived from a human trafficking report that the police presented at a meeting of the Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants on Feb 26, Bernama reported.

He said many of the purported victims were working voluntarily, with some of them even holding top positions within the companies.