Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that despite several warnings, Filipino victims of crypto scam hubs continue to attempt to depart to work illegally.
Tansingco cited a case involving 4 Filipina workers intercepted last August 18 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 after attempting to depart for Cambodia on board a Philippine Airlines aircraft.
The 4 women, all in their mid 20s and early 30s, initially claimed to be co-workers in a local pharmaceutical company and are traveling to Cambodia for a vacation.
However, upon secondary inspection, officers noted several inconsistencies in their statements.
They later admitted to be working as work from home customer service representatives (CSR) of an online casino company.
“The victims admitted that their local employer arranged their trip to Cambodia for them to work as CSRs, with a monthly salary of 900 USD with free food and accommodation,” said Tansingco. “This is a common modus of crypto scam hubs recruiting Filipinos to work abroad,” he added.
Tansingco shared that repatriated Filipinos reported undergoing physical and psychological torture after being forced to work as scammers and not receiving the promised renumeration.
WFH employees recruited to work in pseudo-call centers
Tansingco also mentioned that the existence of crypto scam hubs was raised by other ASEAN countries during their last meeting in Thailand.
“We reiterate previous warnings for Filipinos not to fall prey to such offers,” said Tansingco. “The IACAT (inter-agency council against trafficking) is very active in prosecution of traffickers and illegal recruiters, hence they should be warned not to continue their illicit activities,” he warned.
The victims were referred to the IACAT for assistance in filing cases against their recruiters.
Meanwhile, BI on Sunday, arrested a South Korean national wanted in his home country for fraud. BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco identified the Korean as Son Sobeom, 33, who was arrested in Camp Crame, quezon city last August 20.
The arrest was conducted by the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit (FSU) in coordination with Korean authorities and the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Anti-Transnational Crime Unit (PNP-CIDG-ATCU).
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