Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco raised the alarm on local online gaming company workers being recruited to scam hubs in Asian countries.
Tansingco shared that he received a report from the BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) on the repatriation of a male trafficking victim last August 9.
In the said report, the victim, 30 years old, was trafficked to Myanmar to work as a love scammer targeting Americans and Europeans to invest in cryptocurrency. He departed to Thailand in August last year with five others, who he claimed to be his friends. During his departure, he showed that he is working for an online gaming company in the Philippines. He likewise had numerous previous short travels as a tourist.
He admitted upon repatriation that he was recruited on social media as a customer service representative in Thailand, but upon arrival was fetched by a van and transported via boat to Myanmar.
He was required to reach a weekly quota, otherwise would be subjected to physical torture like push ups, squat jumps, and electrocution. The victim showed the physical marks on his legs from the electrocution he received when he failed to reach his quota. Working hours were 16-18 hours a day, and he only gets a day or half day off when he reaches his quota.
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“They were literally enslaved,” said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco. “They were only allowed to use their phones for two hours in a day. He was required to pay more than half a million pesos for his release, which he negotiated and paid only more than Php 168,000 for his freedom,” he added.
Tansingco added that a previous repatriated victim was found to be working in a scam hub in the country, “This seems like a big syndicate that has operations here and abroad, and are victimizing Filipinos,” he stated. “We have raised the issue to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation so we may put a stop to this syndicate,” he added.
The BI Chief shared that the same issue has been discussed during a recent ASEAN meeting of immigration leaders. “This is a regional issue, and we have discussed ways to combat this with other countries that have observed this as well,” he shared.
The victim was assisted by officials from the Department of Justice-IACAT and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
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