FILIPINO workers who were lured to work on fake jobs in Cambodia were “sold” to online scam syndicates when they fail to meet their “targets,” Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said yesterday, citing statements made by four overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were recently repatriated.
Viado said the four OFWs, who are in their 20s and 30s, returned to Manila last April 19 aboard a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight from Phnom Penh after being rescued by local authorities, Philippine embassy officials, and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
According to the four, they were recruited through Facebook job ads that promised high-paying jobs as encoders and customer service staff.
When they arrived in Cambodia, their passports were supposedly confiscated and they were forced to work in online fraud operations, posing as fake Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents or romantic partners on dating platforms to scam foreign nationals.
The four told immigration and IACAT personnel that when they failed to meet their work targets, they were punished, overworked, and eventually “sold” or “transferred” to other syndicates.
Viado said one victim narrated that he was able to “escape” from his employer “after being handed over to a new group due to poor performance.”
Others said they were “treated like property, bought, sold, and abused.”
“Their stories are clear proof that these syndicates operate with no regard for human dignity. This must stop,” Viado said as he urged Filipinos seeking to work abroad to be more cautious and to use legitimate channels when looking and applying for jobs.
“We urge jobseekers to avoid illegal offers online. Always go through the Department of Migrant Workers,” he said.
IACAT authorities are now conducting investigations and are identifying those who facilitated the illegal deployment of the four OFWs. – With Osias Osorio
