By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 12: The Ministry of Women, Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development is awaiting information from Interpol before taking further action to bring home a 20-year-old Sarawakian woman believed to be a victim of a job scam in Cambodia.
Nur Fatihah Fatrah, from Kampung Senau in Oya, Dalat district, Mukah, was reported missing by her sister, Nina Fathie, at the end of February. Their family has been left distraught by her sudden disappearance after their last WhatsApp communication with her at 8.52pm on Feb 26.
Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah disclosed that the woman’s mother had lodged a police report, and authorities were working with Interpol to track her exact location.
“We cannot act blindly. Only intelligence experts such as Interpol can properly investigate and determine her whereabouts. Once we have more information, we can act accordingly,” she said in a pre-recorded interview after presenting festive aid to Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Sarawak in conjunction with Hari Raya at its headquarters today.
According TV3, the family’s check with the Malaysian Immigration Department revealed that she took two flights—one domestic flight from Kuching to Kuala Lumpur and another international flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Nina shared that her sister, who had been studying at a private college in Kuching, initially told their mother she was travelling to Kuching on Feb 20 to collect her belongings from the college.
On Feb 22, she informed her family that she was heading to Kuala Lumpur to look for a job. Later, on Feb 26, she again told her mother she was going to work in Kuala Lumpur.
Fatimah disclosed that Nur Fatihah had told her mother she had been offered a customer service job, was given RM2,000 to apply for a passport, and had used part of the money to purchase her flight ticket.
“However, after arriving in Cambodia, she only made a brief call to her mother, which was unclear and appeared to be from an area with poor internet coverage,” she explained.
Expressing concern that the woman might have fallen victim to a job scam, the minister recalled a similar case in 2017 when Sarawakians were lured to Cambodia and later discovered to be involved in fraudulent activities.
She recounted visiting a scam operation site, where victims were confined in a building with rows of computers, forced to follow scripted conversations designed to deceive others into sending money.
For the record, Fatimah had previously worked with Wisma Putra to secure the release of 47 Malaysians—40 of whom were from Sarawak—who had fallen victim to human trafficking syndicates in Cambodia.
“I sincerely hope this is not the case, but the modus operandi is very similar. Victims typically arrive in Phnom Penh at midnight and are taken somewhere far away, where they work in a building under monitored conditions,” she said.
Faimah added that the woman had informed her mother that her contract would end in August, but authorities were not waiting until then to act.
“For now, we can only pray for her safety while Interpol works on tracking her location. Once we have concrete information, we will take the necessary steps to bring her back,” she assured. — DayakDaily
