DFA: Beware of job offers abroad posted on social media

Department of Foreign Affairs (Photo from the DFA Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos must be wary of offers for jobs based abroad that are posted through social media, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) warned on Tuesday.

In a statement, the DFA advised jobseekers to verify the authenticity of the offers with the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency and the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices.

The DFA issued the statement after a 27-year-old Filipino woman accepted a job offer in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The woman, who arrived there last December on a tourist visa, ended up with “a spinal fracture after jumping of a building to escape,” according to Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes.

“Upon arrival, she was brought to her agency’s accommodation where she was locked up and not given food,” the DFA said. “She decided to escape a few days ago by jumping from the third floor of the building.”

The injured worker, whose named was withheld, was assisted by the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai, which has started making arrangements for her repatriation.

The Consulate General will also continuously work with “relevant agencies in the UAE to prevent similar occurrences in the future.” /atm