DAVAO CITY — Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 intercepted two individuals who were attempting to pass themselves off as officemates on vacation as part of a fraudulent employee scheme.
The BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) reported that two women, aged 25 and 31, tried to claim they were co-workers on leave, traveling to Bangkok, Thailand. They told authorities that they worked as call center agents for a BPO in Quezon City and were going on a tourist trip.
However, discrepancies in their documents raised suspicions, prompting further questioning. The women eventually admitted that they were not officemates, but had been recruited to work in Laos as customer service representatives (CSRs), with a promised salary of P50,000 per month.
They also revealed that they had paid P3,000 to a fixer they met on social media to produce fake documents that made it appear as though they were co-workers.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado issued a warning about scam syndicates operating in various Asian countries, targeting Filipinos with offers of high-paying call center jobs. These groups often deceive victims with promises of lucrative positions, only to coerce them into participating in illegal activities, such as online scams and cryptocurrency fraud, under exploitative working conditions.
“We strongly advise Filipinos to exercise caution when considering job offers abroad, particularly those that seem too good to be true,” said Viado. “Many so-called call center jobs are actually fronts for large-scale scam operations that exploit and endanger our fellow citizens.”
The two women were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation.
Edith Z Caduaya studied Bachelor of Science in Development Communication at the University of Southern Mindanao.
The chairperson of Mindanao Independent Press Council (MIPC) Inc.
