The Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment has cautioned Bangladesh nationals not to go to five countries -- Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The ministry states that some unscrupulous expatriate individuals and several scam organizations established in these countries are advertising recruitment notices or recruitment campaigns through various online channels (fake websites, e-mail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc) to recruit Bangladesh nationals for various positions including computer operators, typists, call center operators etc with attractive salaries.

In those cases, the scam centers are skillfully taking the nationals of different countries, as well as Bangladeshis into the scam centers and forcibly taking them hostage at gunpoint and engaging them in scam work.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok has already been able to send back several Bangladeshis who have been released or escaped from scam centers established in Myanmar and Cambodia, the ministry said. The concerned governments have been requested to take necessary measures in this regard.

The cautionary message further states that the Bangladesh embassies in Thailand and Myanmar are in constant contact with NGOs and related institutions working on cyber scams in these countries.

Bangladeshis who want to go abroad for employment have been advised to be more careful if they receive job offers related to computer operations in these countries. If necessary, they have been requested to verify the detailed information of the employing organization in cooperation with the relevant branches of the Ministry of Expatriates` Welfare and Overseas Employment or the relevant branches of the Manpower, Workplace, and Training Bureau in Bangladesh.

In addition, the scam center is targeting citizens of different countries, including Bangladeshis living in different countries and abroad, through Facebook and WhatsApp IDs. When Bangladeshis living in the country and abroad invest in the accounts of the fraudsters through cryptocurrency, the fraudsters immediately embezzle the money by closing the accounts of these transactions.

In this regard, Bangladeshis living at home and abroad have been advised to be more careful when using social media.