Danger : Online Job Scams on the Rise

There has been an increase in job scams and the number of reported losses continues to rise. Scammers are using new technologies, such as AI, to create fake job adverts and social media profiles. Cases have been reported in Cameroon where the victim got a job and sometimes travelled to Nigeria, Ghana or other countries and never returned. In some cases, the scammers asked their victims to send voice messages to their families back home asking for money.
To this day, many families are still searching for their loved ones who have travelled and have not heard from them. Armelle G. is one victim who was rescued after falling into the scammers' trap. She said she saw a job offer on Facebook and the so-called friend lured her to come to Nigeria because the salary was over CFA 400.00.
She later applied for the job and was given documents to sign saying she had been employed in Nigeria. After the official procedure. Armelle G. embarked on what was supposed to be a life-changing experience. On arrival in Nigeria, she was taken to a hotel and asked to send CFA 700,000 to her family in Cameroon to continue the process. She said she was taken aback and told the fraudsters that her parents didn't have that amount of money.  She said she was later taken to a building where she said she met over 100 Cameroonians. There, she said, their phones were confiscated and they were taught daily how to scam other people. "They taught us how to scam people. We had daily lessons on online fraud. They asked me for 3 million, but when I couldn't get it from my family, I was punished by being locked in a cold room for two days".
She revealed that after several futile attempts, Amelle's traffickers recorded a video showing a kidnapping scene in which they could be heard saying "You have 48 hours to send the money or we will kill her". Despite this, her family was unable to raise the money as she was the one supporting her family in Cameroon.
Mezing Salomon, who escaped, told a similar story but said he managed...