Public warned vs catphishing syndicates offering jobs abroad

FILE PHOTO: Bureau of Immigration (BI) logo and building facade. INQUIRER / ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has warned the public about catphishing syndicates recruiting Filipinos to work abroad.

In a news release Sunday, BI Officer-in-Charge Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado issued the warning after three alleged victims were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Sept. 21.

The trio was stopped from boarding an Air Asia flight to Thailand.

Posing as tourists, they were later found to have submitted fake return flight tickets.

The victims eventually admitted that the documents they presented were merely given by their recruiter, who ordered them to pose as traveling companions.

They shared that they were recruited via Facebook Messenger app to work in Cambodia as customer service representatives with a salary of more than P50,000.

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Authorities believe that the trio was recruited to work for a catphishing syndicate masquerading as a legitimate call center.

The BI earlier warned about the said syndicate, which recruits Filipinos and forces them into the illegal activity that lures Western victims via dating sites to invest in fake cryptocurrency accounts.

Viado lamented that many still fall for the scam, which promises competitive salaries and enticing incentives.

All three victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking. Darryl John Esguerra / PNA