Public sources compiled · Overseas job scams · Confinement response

What to Do and How to Report If You're Confined by an Overseas Job Scam

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Cases of people lured by overseas job ads promising "high pay, room and board, flights provided," then stripped of their passports and forced into scam crimes, surged in 2024–2025. This is compiled from Korea's MOFA Consular Call Center guidance, the Ministry of Justice overseas job scam guide (2025), and the overseas kidnapping/detention response guidelines in local-government safety material. If you are in real danger, contact the Consular Call Center (+82-2-3210-0404) or 112.

1. Stay calm first: secure a way to make contact

Steady your breathing and check what you still have on you and in your bags (a hidden phone, charger, paper).
Keep a hidden phone on silent with the screen dimmed. If it's found, you lose your last way to reach out.
Quietly ask fellow captives about roll call and shift times and the building layout.

2. Alert: the Consular Call Center and local police

MOFA Consular Call Center: +82-2-3210-0404 (24 hours), KakaoTalk channel "외교부 영사콜센터" (MOFA Consular Call Center). Send your name, location and situation briefly, and they connect you with the local embassy and police.
Local police hotline: in many places, victims are expected to report in person. Write the situation briefly in English and send your current map-app location, contact details, passport copy and a rescue message (Ministry of Justice guidance).
If you can't do it yourself, ask family or coworkers to report to 112 and the Consular Call Center. Police notify the embassy and the Consular Center.
Giving the floor, towers or rivers visible outside, and the number of people held makes you easier to find.

3. Hold out: don't provoke, protect your body

Don't resist; follow instructions and avoid sudden moves. Don't make eye contact or threatening faces, and answer questions briefly and calmly.
If you can talk, be polite and try to keep relations friendly.
Eat the food you're given, keep moving, and ask for medicine if sick.
Remember sounds, smells, the route, the captors' features and the buildings outside.
Don't hand over acquaintances when told "bring a friend and we'll let you go." It creates new victims.

4. Escape only when it's certain

If success isn't certain, don't try to escape. Escaping over walls, through windows or across rivers easily leads to serious injury.
If a rescue is being prepared outside, don't despair; wait.
If there are signs you'll be moved elsewhere, tell the Consular Call Center right away.

5. When a rescue operation begins

Drop to the floor right where you are and show your hands.
Running to the police or standing up to grab your things can get you mistaken for a perpetrator.

6. After you're out: statement and going home

Tell police the recruiter's account and face, the manager's and guards' features and the building location. Job ads, chat records and photos become evidence.
If your passport was taken, get an emergency passport or travel certificate at the local embassy and go home. Don't go back to a dangerous place for your passport.

7. Prevention: if you get an overseas job offer

Be suspicious of offers to enter on a tourist or visa-free stay and work, promises of "high pay, room and board, flights," and hiring done only through messengers.
Verify the company, workplace and visa type yourself, and keep a passport copy separately.
Before leaving, share your schedule, lodging and contacts with family, and check travel advisories on MOFA's overseas travel safety site.

Practice with a simulation

Reading a list is different from recalling it in a locked room. “Trapped by a High-Paying Job Abroad” is a free browser game where you make these decisions yourself against the clock (the city, company and characters are fictional). See the game guide.

Sources

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Korea — Consular Call Center (+82-2-3210-0404, KakaoTalk channel) · Overseas travel safety · Passport guide (emergency passport)
Ministry of Justice, Korea — Overseas job scam and confinement response guide (2025): reporting to the local police hotline yourself in English, sending location and passport copy
Local-government safety guidance — Overseas detention/kidnapping response (don't resist, escape only when certain, get down during a rescue, stay healthy)
MOFA and Korean National Police Agency — Warnings about high-paying overseas job scams (2024–2025)

FAQ

Who do I contact if I'm confined abroad?

Alert MOFA's Consular Call Center at +82-2-3210-0404 (24 hours) or via the KakaoTalk channel "외교부 영사콜센터" (MOFA Consular Call Center) with your location and situation. In many places, the local police hotline expects you to report yourself, in English.

Can my family report it for me?

Yes. If family reports to 112, police notify the local embassy and the Consular Call Center. However, embassies generally require the victim to report and give their location, so contact them yourself too if you can.

Should I run?

If success isn't certain, don't try. Walls, windows and rivers easily cause serious injury. If a rescue is being prepared, wait, and when the operation begins, get down at once.

My passport was taken. How do I get home?

You can get an emergency passport or travel certificate at the local embassy (overseas mission) and return home. Having a passport copy helps.

How can I spot an overseas job scam?

Be suspicious of high pay with room, board and flights provided, offers to come on a tourist or visa-free entry and work, hiring done only through messengers, and companies you can't verify.

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