INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ
MANILA, Philippines — Two women who were illegally recruited to work as call center agents in Laos have been rescued by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
In a statement on Monday, the BI said the two individuals, whose identities were not disclosed, initially posed as officemates on vacation bound for Bangkok, Thailand.
“They stated that they were both working as call center agents for a BPO (business process outsourcing) in Quezon City and were traveling for tourism,” the agency said.
“However, upon presenting their documents, officers noted inconsistencies that contradicted their initial statements,” it added.
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According to the BI, the two later admitted they were not actually colleagues but had been recruited to work in Laos.
“They were offered customer service representative positions with a promised salary of P50,000 per month,” the bureau said.
The victims also revealed that they paid P3,000 to a fixer they met on social media to obtain fake documents showing they were officemates, the immigration bureau further stated.
Given this, Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado warned the public about scam hubs in Asian countries targeting Filipinos with fake job offers.
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“Many of these so-called call center jobs turn out to be fronts for large-scale scam operations that exploit and endanger our fellow countrymen,” Viado said in a statement.
He explained that these syndicates lure victims with promises of high-paying call center jobs, only for them to be forced into fraudulent activities.
Among these activities include online scams and cryptocurrency fraud, under harsh and abusive working conditions.
The BI said the two victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation.