The Aviation Police Bureau (APB) on Wednesday said that it recently persuaded a Taiwanese woman not to go to Cambodia, having determined she was targeted by a human-trafficking honey trap scheme.
Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, said the bureau was notified of the case by Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Services on March 3.
Chang said the ground crew identified a Taiwanese woman, surnamed Shih (施), as a potential scam victim while she was about to take an international flight from Terminal 1 at the airport.
Photo: Wang Chieh, Taipei Times
The crew noticed that although Shih was embarking on her first-ever trip abroad, she only had a one-way ticket from Taipei to Phnom Penh via a layover in Kuala Lumpur.
Airport personnel suspected Shih might be victim of a job scam and was about to fall into the hands of human traffickers in Cambodia, Chang said.
As a result, APB officers approached Shih at the Terminal 1 security checkpoint to assess the situation. The officers eventually determined that the Taiwanese woman befriended a man known as “A-hsing” online and was traveling to Cambodia to meet him, Chang said.
A-hsing apparently lured Shih into a honey trap with sweet talk, persuading her to travel to Cambodia under the pretense of exploring job opportunities, and assured her that all expenses for the trip and subsequent tours would be fully covered, he said.
APB officers used her phone to call A-hsing, who claimed to be in Phnom Penh and Shih’s boyfriend. However, when asked to provide identification, details of his relationship with Shih and an explanation of why he wanted her to go to Cambodia, A-hsing was unable to do so, he added.
After determining that the trip was a honey trap scheme, officers informed Shih about similar scams and human trafficking cases to dissuade her, Chang said, adding that Shih ultimately decided against flying to Cambodia, and the APB later contacted her family before escorting her home.
The APB would continue to follow up with the case, Chang said.
There has been a steady stream of cases of scammers luring victims to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs, the APB said, urging the public to remain cautious when encountering such offers.
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