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MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday reported the repatriation of nine more Filipinos who were promised decent work abroad but ended up in scam hubs.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the latest batch of eight repatriates arrived on May 18 from Thailand at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City.
He said the victims were recruited via Telegram to work as customer service representatives (CSR) with a promised monthly salary of PHP55,000, but were forced to transfer to Myanmar to work as love scammers targeting homosexuals online.
The victims said they did not receive the promised salary and were later dismissed for not reaching their quota.
The victims reported they were made to clean toilets or jog in the middle of the day if they did not reach their quota.
The scam hub's management finally allowed them to leave after sensing that the Filipino workers 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.
The victims were made to lure targets to invest in pseudo-cryptocurrency accounts using dating websites.
Meanwhile, another victim arrived from Laos at the NAIA Terminal 3 on May 16.
The victim, a 42-year-old male, was reportedly lured to Laos to work as a CSR but ended up as an online love scammer.
Records revealed he departed as a tourist and claimed that he was a manager of a shop in the Philippines going on a holiday. He admitted to having been recruited via Facebook, only to be transported to Chiang Rai by plane and to Laos by boat.
The victim was promised a monthly salary of PHP50,000 per month but did not receive it.
All victims were assisted by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration personnel upon arrival.
“Do not agree to illegal job offers. Do not put yourselves in danger by saying yes to this syndicate,” Tansingco warned. (PNA)
