Before the pandemic hit, Rahim worked as a boat operator transporting essential items between the islands of Indonesia. The casual job was enough to keep his wife and two children financially stable – until the borders closed, the tourists packed up and the work ran dry.
As the months dragged on, Rahim – who is using a pseudonym for privacy reasons – became desperate for a job. So when an acquaintance on his island offered him work in Cambodia, he took it.
But the job wasn’t what he expected. He found himself held captive in a call centre, forced to scam foreigners, including Australians, out of thousands of dollars.
