Mumbai Woman Arrested for Trafficking Young Indians as Cyber Slaves in Cambodia

In Phonm Penh, the Indian embassy had said that it had rescued 14 Indians who had been pushed into cyber crime in Cambodia, in July.

The embassy also said it had facilitated the rescue and repatriation of over 650 Indians who had fallen victim to such scams so far in collaboration with Cambodian authorities.

The woman has been identified as Priyanka Shivkumar Siddu, a resident of Chembur in Mumbai, by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau in Hyderabad.

According to officials, Priyanka had previously worked at Maxwell, a registered international employment agency that closed due to health concerns of its managing editor.

Later, she started her own company without a proper licence after gaining experience there. As she lacked the legal authorisation, she misled job applicants by issuing visitation visas with the promise that they would eventually be changed to employment visas.

As her agency expanded, he made a friend, with Narayana, who ran a similar business in Mumbai. After visiting Cambodia, Narayana told Priyanka about data entry jobs available there and introduced her to Jithender Shah, also known as Amer Khan, the director of Zhan Zei, a Chinese-owned company.

According to the officials, Priyanka went to Cambodia to further check the information and was paid 500 dollars (about Rs 42,000) by agents for each candidate she sent there. After returning to India, the first two candidates she sent there and proceeded with their visas were her sister's son, Akshay Vaidhya, and his friend Danish Khan.

When they both reached Cambodia, they took a 12-hour car trip through Cambodia. Then, Jithender Shah, also known as Amer Khan, explained their line of work, which involved cybercrimes.

Priyanka extensively promoted her high-paying jobs in Cambodia, in newspapers and social media, which attracted many people. This resulted in Vamsi Krishna and Sai Prasad from Hyderabad getting in touch with her.

She received Rs 30,000 for each candidate as a commission. She then processed their visas and sent them to Cambodia, where they were subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse for refusing to engage in cybercrime.

With considerable difficulty, Krishna and Prasad returned to India, and Priyanka's role in sending others overseas for cybercrimes is still being investigated.

According to officials, victims of these schemes are not only threatened with physical and psychological harm if they do not comply with coercion to perform cybercrimes but after a few months, money is extracted from some of them by threatening to kill them. The payment is demanded in cryptocurrency.

A "cyber slave" is a young person who has been tricked into entering a country where they are promised a legitimate job opportunity and are then coerced into engaging in cybercrimes, sometimes with threats of assault and imprisonment. They are informed that they have a contractual duty to remain once their passports are seized, effectively eliminating their ability to travel back home. They are occasionally "sold" for a fee to other agents, most of whom are Chinese.