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MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday warned Filipinos against accepting job offers from Facebook, TikTok, and messaging app Telegram as these may be by used cryptocurrency scam syndicates.
In a statement, the BI said this was how 8 Filipino victims were lured into accepting job offers from an online scam.
The Immigration bureau said 3 of the victims were sent out of the country from Zamboanga. They traveled for 7 days, passing through Jolo, Brunei, Jakarta, and Thailand before reaching Cambodia.
Another three departed via Clark, while another two passed through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The two who left via NAIA presented themselves as tourists. One presented herself as an officer in a local company, while one of them traveled from Bangkok to Cambodia with his girlfriend.
The man’s girlfriend was reportedly able to return early due to the death of a family member, but he was threatened that he will be made to pay for the girlfriend’s breach of contract.
The victims were also promised salaries of as much as $1000 per month, and were forced to work for 16-18 hours a day without days off.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said government agencies should work together to address the root of human trafficking.
“The BI is but one of the agencies against trafficking,” he said. “Trafficking is a multi-faceted issue and must be addressed from its roots. Those illegally recruiting and victimizing our kababayans must be arrested and jailed.”
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said scammers have been reaching out even to Filipinos abroad for their cryptocurrency scam.
“Kunyari sa Dubai, sa UAE. Nasa UAE na pupunta pa ng Thailand, dahil patapos na yung visa nila o tapos na yung visa nila. Eh paso na, kaya naniniwala sila doon.”
“Kaya ang ating mga embahada sa buong mundo, pinaalala na ng (Department of Foreign Affairs) na bigyan ng advisory yung mga Pilipino na huwag po basta-basta maniwala po diyan,” he said.
(There have been cases, for example, of overseas Filipino workers in Dubai, UAE who have been lured into a cryptocurrency scam in Thailand because their visa was expired or almost expired. So they believed these things. That’s why our embassies around the world have been asked by the DFA to warn Filipinos against these scams.)
He also warned Filipinos against accepting “all expenses paid” job offers abroad.
“Pag may nakita kayong online offers, pagkatapos sabi free, ibig sabihin, wala kayo babayaran plane ticket, natural hindi niyo kailangan ng visa dahil ASEAN countries yan, tapos ang job offer is customer sales representative o computer expert, ganyan, hindi po totoo yan,” he said.
(If you see job offers online that are allegedly free, where they don’t ask you to pay for your plane ticket or your visa because you’re in an ASEAN country, then the job title is either customer sales representative or computer expert, don’t believe those things.)
De Vega said said legitimate job offers will also require applicants to go through proper legal channels.
“Doon sa Cambodia, dumaan pa raw sila ng Zamboanga. So red flag na yan. Dumaan palagi sa normal na proseso through the (Philippine Overseas Employment Agency). Para mas sigurado kayong tunay na trabaho ang naghihintay sa inyo.”
(In the case of those who went to Cambodia, they passed through Zamboanga. So that alone is a red flag. Always pass through the normal process of the POEA to ensure that you will be getting a legitimate job.)
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