China man forced to become swindler overseas after buying cheap holiday package from gang to save money rescued from 3 years of torture
- Man purchased a 7-day package to Southeast Asia that he said saved him US$420
- He was kidnapped upon arrival, forced to work in online gambling, where he was routinely beaten
.JPG?itok=NUwH9YK3&v=1713190226)
A 26-year-old man was rescued three years after he was tricked into forced labour after he fell for a holiday scam and was kidnapped in Southeast Asia and forced to work for an online gambling ring.
The man, surnamed Zhang, from Hubei province in central China, told Jimu News that he purchased a seven-day trip in November 2019 to a Southeast Asian country, the exact location was not reported, for 4,500 yuan (US$630), which he said saved him 3,000 yuan (US$420) compared to the market rate.
He was excited about the trip, but upon landing, a driver quickly ferried him to a factory district in the city and told him: “Get out of the car, you work here now”.
Zhang became particularly scared when they confiscated his phone, identity card, and passport. He tried to fight off the staff kidnapping him, but they overpowered him.
Zhang discovered he was forced to work for an online gambling company, and his job was in sales to convince people to join the platform. Zhang said he was not good at dishonesty, so his work performance was poor, which meant he was beaten often.
Six months after his kidnapping, a manager told Zhang that they could release him if he paid 111,000 yuan (US$15,500). Zhang soon contacted his parents, and they paid the company’s ransom. But Zhang was not allowed to go home and instead was sold to a second company.
That cycle would repeat throughout the year, and his parents would empty their savings account by paying the corrupt companies about one million yuan (US$140,000) in total.
Zhang managed to escape his nightmare when he was sent to a local hospital because of severe injuries caused by a beating. He tried to hire a local agent to get him a new passport, but that agent ended up facilitating his sale to a third company, where Zhang got lucky.
That third company was loose about confiscating phones quickly, and Zhang managed to contact the local police.
The police took action, and in October 2022 they rescued Zhang and he returned to China.
He warned people that when they travel overseas, they “must choose an official travel agency, and if it is too good to be true, it probably is.”
The story, recently surfaced on Chinese social media, has shocked many people in China.
“What a horrible story,” said one online commenter.
Another said: “Many people believe that pennies can fall from heaven, but it probably is a trap.”
In 2022, Hong Kong grappled with a human trafficking trend in which 38 residents were tricked into moving to various Southeast Asian countries, kidnapped, and forced to work for shady companies.
Some victims said they were tortured, sexually assaulted, and threatened with organ harvesting.
