Family Fears for Safety of Free State Man Stranded in Cambodia After Being Lured to Thailand in Job Scam

• The family of the man stranded in Cambodia after falling for a job scam is concerned about their loved one's safety
• Xolani Sidwel Fongo was lured to Thailand with a work opportunity which wasn't what it turned out to be
• Fongo's family said it has exhausted all diplomatic channels to get him back to SA and has pleaded for the public's help

JOHANNESBURG- The family of the 29-year-old Free State man stranded in Cambodia are desperate to get him home amid fears that his life is in danger.

Xolani Sidwell Fongo was lured to Thailand after being offered a job to work at a Chinese marketing company based in Thailand.

Free State man realises Thai job offer was a scam

Soon after arriving in the country, Fongo realised the job wasn't what the recruiter described; his new employer wanted him to scam wealthy men from the US.

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Free State man stuck in Cambodia after accepting a job scam in Thailand, South Africans rally to help him

Though he initially refused, Fongo was forced into working because the scammers said he had to pay back the expenses incurred to bring him to Thailand.

Xolani Sidwell Fongo flees to Cambodia only to be stranded

After working for the scammers for a while, the Free State native fled to Cambodia, where he has been stranded ever since.

Fongo's story went viral after he posted about it on social media resulting in IOL publishing a story. It was soon picked up by a Cambodian media house, after which is when the man allegedly started being targeted.

Fongo's family claims they have exhausted all diplomatic means to get their loved one back and are now pleading for the public's help, IOL reported.

A family friend said:

"We need help to get him back."

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South Africans divided by stranded Free State man's story

Below are some comments:

Hazel Julie Smith hoped:

"Pray he's helped."

Tom Ngwenya said:

"Let's hope he's not in prison already."

Con Raadi criticiesed:

"So once he arrived in Myanmar, he was a scammer himself."

Skye Westray claimed:

"Wouldn't surprise me if this is just a ploy to get a free ride home."

@BelemeTp said:

"Hasn't the DIRCO intervened in this matter yet because it's been a long time since this has been going on?"

Woman gets SMS for job earning R1000 a day, Mzansi pokes fun at scams: “You should consider buying Twitter”

In another story about a scam, Briefly News reported that a lady received a peculiar SMS for a supposed job that would have her earning R1 000 a day, but Mzansi peeps were on to the suspicious nature of it.

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@Kamogelo_MN was surprised when she received the text and immediately ran to Twitter to share her findings with like-minded SA netizens. The text has obvious red flags proving it's a scam. The first is that WhatsApp is spelt "What-App", which is very odd, to say the least.

The SMS highlights the massive annoyance of modern times: relentless spam. Not only are suspicious text messages sent out all the time, but emails and even social media platforms are also places where one can find such annoyances.

Source: Briefly News