The agents involved in the Australian fruit-picking scams appear to favour the social media site Facebook to promote their services, according to a Malaysian living in Sydney.

The Malaysian, who spoke anonymously to Malaysiakini for safety reasons, said he had been working with the Australian Salvation Army on the case of 34 Malaysians being detained at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre since late August this year.

During this time, he had placed a call from Sydney to a recruiting agent in Malaysia whose contact he found on Facebook.

According to the source, the agent hid his caller ID during the call.

"I pretended to be an interested member and conversed with the 'agent' for half-an-hour in Malay," the source told Malaysiakini in an e-mail.

Under the guise of someone desperate for money, the source said he was told by the agent that Australian authorities now have stringent checks on Malaysians travelling there.

The agent also supposedly told him that he could go to South Korea as well, as the authorities there were less strict and so the risks would be lower.

"That was when I found out that there are illegal Malaysians working in kimchi factories in Korea," he said.

The agent also said that he would only help him apply for a tourist visa, but added that he would teach him 'ways' to enter Australia undetected.

Payment must be made first

The source was purportedly told that payment would have to be made first, and the agent would meet him at the airport before his flight to Australia, where he would be taught these 'ways'.

"He (the agent) also said that all agents in Malaysia have their own 'secret ingredient, commercial secret'; 'if we tell you, you will go to Australia on your own and don't pay us money'.

"He also emphasised that 'if you get caught, we will not be responsible; you just have to wait to be sent back to Malaysia. It's not a big deal," the source told Malaysiakini.

The agent also suggested to him to apply for culinary courses in Australia so that he could help him apply for student visa, allowing him entry into Australia so that he could work on the farms.

Some agents even openly promoted their ability to settle visa applications through Facebook, he added, with some saying that a bridging visa would be good enough to work in that country.

Some even said there is no need for a visa, he claimed.

The agent told him not to worry, as he would be travelling in a group disguised as tourists.

When the source asked whether a job is guaranteed for him when he 'arrives' in Australia, he was told that contractors would pick them up once they arrived in the country and these contractors would send them to different farms.

'Boss besar'

The source also asked who would be paying them, and the agent merely said the 'boss besar' would pay them, through the contractors.

When he continued to pester the agent on the identity of this mysterious boss, the agent eventually admitted that he has never met the 'boss besar' before but gave his assurance to the source that there will 'definitely be jobs at the farms'.

The Australian Salvation Army, a church-based movement, is still gathering more information on these scams, said the source, and as soon as it has compiled all the contacts and information, it would lodge a police report on this matter.

As for the 34 detained in Villawood, he said the Malaysian consul-general in Sydney informed him that while there are more than 34 Malaysians detained, more than half of them have already been deported to Malaysia.

However, there are some who have chosen to stay at the detention centre, he said, as they feel it's a better life there than in Malaysia.

Some also refused to go back to Malaysia as they were running away from loan sharks, he said.

Those who refused to go back to Malaysia would be transferred to the Christmas Island detention centre.

"As for the 34 that we are aware of, we will continue to fight for the return of their wages that have not been paid," said the source.

Bersih Sydney had earlier highlighted the issue of the Malaysians who ended up in the Villawood detention centre after falling victim to the fruit-picking scams.