PhD graduate will soon return to China after being scammed to Myanmar for a year

(ECNS) -- A Ph.D. graduate from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) surnamed Zhang had been rescued from a cyber fraud park in Myawaddy, Myanmar, and will return to China soon, said his elder brother on Thursday.

His case of being tricked to Myanmar was unveiled after a Chinese netizen posted a video clip that he worked 18 hours a day under watchful eyes.

Zhang’s girlfriend, surnamed Yang, said Zhang graduated from the Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher, Jiupai News reported.

According to Yang, Zhang lost a lot money when speculating in cryptocurrency and was in a debt of tens of thousands of yuan a year ago. He fell into the trap of fraudsters during job hunting and was promised a high salary on the internet. He thought he would work in Singapore as an interpreter, but in fact, he was scammed to Myanmar for cyber fraud on Aug. 16, 2022.

After being brought to the cyber fraud park, he texted Yang, saying he couldn’t use his own cellphone any more, but could only use other cellphones..

According to Yang, she raised 120,000 yuan (about $16,465) to redeem her boyfriend, but found the account was frozen before transfer, then she knew that her boyfriend was beaten and imprisoned for this.

Zhang’s elder brother called the police after learning about this, and local police reported this case to the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar.

With the help of the embassy, Zhang was eventually saved out of the cyber fraud park.

China, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos held a meeting in Thailand's Chiang Mai earlier this month to initiate a special joint operation to attack gambling and fraud in the region, as well as human trafficking, kidnapping, illegal detention and other crimes.