A total of nine more Filipinos were repatriated after being recruited to work in scam hubs abroad.
Repatriated last May 16 was a 42-year-old male Filipino worker who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 from Laos.
The male victim was reportedly lured to Laos to work as a customer service representative (CSR) but ended up as an online love scammer.
Records revealed that he departed as a tourist, claiming he is a manager of a shop in the Philippines going on a holiday. He admitted to have been recruited via Facebook, only to be transported to Chiang Rai by plane and to Laos by boat.
The victim said that was enticed by a lucrative salary of P50,000 per month, but ended up receiving no salary.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, another batch of eight Filipinos were repatriated from Thailand at the NAIA Terminal 1.
The victims were recruited via Telegram also to work as CSRs with a promised salary of P55,000, but were forced to transfer to Myanmar to work as love scammers targeting homosexuals online.
Previous reports state that victims are made to lure targets to invest in pseudo cryptocurrency accounts using dating websites.
The victims said that they did not receive the promised salary, and were later dismissed for not reaching their quota.
They reported that they were made to clean toilets or jog in the middle of the day if they did not reach their target numbers. Management finally allowed them to leave after they sensed that the Filipinos were up in arms against them. They were escorted out of the complex where they took a boat ride to Thailand and sought help from the Philippine consulate.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that this kind of incident shows the risks faced by many Filipinos pursuing illegal opportunities abroad. He the public to affirm job offers through official government agency channels to avoid falling victim to similar scams.
“Do not agree to illegal job offers,” warned Tansingco. “Do not put yourselves in danger by saying yes to this syndicate,” he added.
Ther victims were assisted by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration personnel upon arrival.
