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Today, Miracle* spends her days guiding tourists through Indonesia, leading travelers through historic sites and sharing stories from the past. She loves watching people light up with curiosity and joy. “When I take people out for trips, I feel so proud and satisfied when I see people happy,” she said. It is the kind of life she once feared she would never have.
Before achieving this dream, Miracle was working as a translator in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The work was stable, but she dreamed of more. One day, she hoped to open her own travel agency. So when a friend connected her with a high-paying online marketing job in Cambodia, the opportunity felt like an answer to prayer, a chance to save money quickly and build the future she imagined for herself.
“When I first got this job I was quite excited,” Miracle recalled. “I reviewed it up to 5 times before I made the decision to go, just to confirm it was real.”
She traveled from Batam to Cambodia alongside other workers, expecting legitimate work and a fresh start. Instead, she walked into a nightmare.
The job was a scam. Miracle and the others had been trafficked into a scam compound and forced to participate in online fraud operations. Workers were expected to hit strict daily financial targets. If they failed, they faced intimidation, violence and abuse. The salary and conditions they had been promised never materialized. They could not freely leave the compound or contact their families.
“When I realized that I had to scam people, deep inside my heart, I asked myself, ‘If this person was my father, how would I feel if someone scammed him?’” Miracle said. “And when I saw them [the scam bosses] using violence and abuse, that’s what made me scream to God, ‘take me home.’”
The danger became unmistakably real when Miracle watched another Indonesian worker be violently assaulted in front of her.
“From there I knew this wasn’t a workplace,” she said. “I spoke to God, ‘God this is not a human workplace, this is dangerous. God, I want to leave.’”
The company demanded more than US$ 2,800 (~HK$22,000) if workers wanted to return home. Fear permeated daily life. At one point, managers accused Miracle of reporting the compound to police.
“At that time, it was like my feet were stuck to the floor and couldn’t be lifted at all,” she said. “I called to Jesus, ‘Please help me Jesus,’ and then suddenly I could move. God released my feet and I knew, God was with me.”
Despite constant surveillance, Miracle managed to secretly contact her brother in Indonesia using a hidden second phone she had brought with her. Her brother reported the case to the United Nations, which eventually referred it to IJM Cambodia. IJM staff began communicating with Miracle and coordinated an operation with the Cambodian police, leading to the rescue of her and other survivors trapped inside the compound.
“When I stepped out of the compound, I just immediately prayed, ‘Thank God,’” Miracle said. “And I couldn’t stop crying, all I felt was so thankful…I felt like God was really hugging me.”
Once freed, IJM supported their return to Indonesia.
“I just really want to say thank you to IJM. My story is like making a movie, but the main actor is God. Next is IJM.”
After returning home, Miracle was determined to pursue justice. Alongside eight other survivors, she reported the recruiter who had trafficked them to the police.
“Justice for me is that those who are guilty must be judged,” she said.
IJM Indonesia and its legal partner walked alongside Miracle and the other survivors through the legal process, supporting them as the case moved through the courts. In 2023, the recruiter was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison—a sentence Miracle believes was too short.
Today, she is rebuilding her life and hopes no one else will experience what she endured.
“The second part of justice is that there shouldn’t be anyone else who gets deceived like that. That’s the justice I hope for, that it doesn’t happen again.”
Now, Miracle hopes that her business will allow her to help others. But above all, she hopes her story will warn people about trafficking schemes like the one that trapped her in Cambodia and point them toward the faith that carrier her through it.
“I want God to use my testimony, my story, so that God can be glorified through me, and people can know Lord Jesus. That’s the most important thing.”
About IJM’s work:
IJM offices in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia (through a local partner) are working with government agencies and embassies to facilitate the rescue, repatriation and care of survivors, as well as investigation by law enforcement partners into the cross-border human trafficking networks involved.
Since 2021, IJM has assisted over 2700 individuals determined to be victims of forced scamming in Southeast Asia. IJM also supports governments’ criminal justice system responses, which have led to the convictions of over 15 perpetrators involved in forced scamming.
*To protect survivors, we have used pseudonyms and stock images with actors.
