A man who had been locked in a room against his will when he went for a purported job interview was rescued on Tuesday by police, who arrested five people during a raid of the building where he was being confined, the Taoyuan Precinct said on Wednesday.
The search was carried out after a friend of the victim filed a report that the man had been missing since Monday, the day of the job interview, said the Taoyuan police, who pursued the matter after it was referred to them by Taipei police.
When police arrived at the address that had been provided by the man’s friend, the occupants at first refused to open the door of the apartment, but one of them eventually did so, and the police were able to enter, the precinct said.
Inside the apartment, police found the 28-year-old man in a locked room, where he said he was being held against his will, the precinct said, adding that five suspects of a fraud ring were arrested.
Police said they also found the bank cards and passbooks of six other people, who were believed to be victims of other fraudulent schemes.
The man told police that he was a painter at construction sites in New Taipei City and had answered an online advertisement for an unspecified job that offered the chance to earn up to NT$100,000 (US$3,223).
He was contacted for an interview and taken to the address in Taoyuan and locked in the room, said police, who added that the man was not hurt physically.
The five suspects are believed to be members of a crime ring that has been luring people with false job advertisements and then confining them so that they could be forced to run as dupes for crime groups, police said.
The case on Tuesday was the latest in string of similar incidents, which have aroused concern.
Police said they would step up investigations into reports of missing people and carry out raids on rooms, apartments and hostels being rented to people suspected of involvement in fraud and human trafficking.
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