A Vietnamese court has handed down a 16-year prison sentence to an interpreter convicted of defrauding nine individuals through a scheme that promised ‘high-paying easy jobs.’
The scam involved offering employment as customer service staff in Cambodia, but the victims were sent to work for an exploitative online gaming company, with the perpetrator collecting $2,700 in brokerage fees.
Ly Phuong Thao, 37, received her sentence during a trial at the Da Nang City People’s Court in central Vietnam. She was charged with human trafficking under Article 150 of the Vietnamese Penal Code. Originally from Ho Chi Minh City, Thao has been traveling to Cambodia regularly since 2019, working as an interpreter for Chinese companies.
In December 2020, Thao, having learned about a Chinese online gaming establishment recruiting employees in Sihanouk Province, falsely advertised the opportunity online.
Claiming she could secure positions in the customer service department, she provided deceptive information to a friend, T.P.K., and four of K.’s relatives. They were led to believe the job involved computer data entry and client care, with monthly salaries ranging from $850 to $1,200.
Thao, using illegal border crossings in Tay Ninh Province, took the group to Cambodia, where the manager of the gaming establishment confiscated their identification papers.
The victims were coerced into signing documents in Cambodian or Chinese and forced to work long hours, luring and guiding customers to spend money on online games. Monthly earnings were only $500-600, and they had to compensate the company $1,000–2,000 if they fell short of the required monthly work hours.
The victims worked in secured areas, under constant surveillance by security personnel. Ineffective or disobedient workers faced the risk of being sold to another company.
Thao repeated the scheme on December 20, 2020, sending four more individuals to the same company and receiving a total brokerage fee of $2,700 for introducing nine people.
Of the nine victims, seven attempted to escape, with only two succeeding. Reports from the escapees aided Cambodian authorities in rescuing the remaining victims and led to Thao’s arrest.
