Love scam hubs hiring Pinoys – BI

MANILA, Philippines — Romance scam hubs are offering fraudulent jobs to Filipinos seeking work abroad, luring them into becoming scammers with fake dating profiles, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

A 24-year-old trafficking victim arrived on Sunday in the Philippines after being rescued from a scam hub in Cambodia. He boarded a Philippine Airlines flight from Phnom Penh.

The victim said he had managed about three fake female dating profiles, initiating contact with potential victims on social media and dating platforms such as Tinder.

He said failure to meet performance targets during a 15-hour shift earned him a knock on the head from his employer. Stun batons were also activated near him to intimidate and instill fear.

Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado has urged the public to stay vigilant.

“These aren’t just your run-of-the-mill online scams. We’re talking about full-blown operations linked to human trafficking. Victims aren’t just losing money, they’re being thrown to do shady deals,” Viado said.

Four other Filipinos who were forced to work in love scams were repatriated from Cambodia, the BI said.

The victims aged 27 to 46 arrived on July 12 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 from Phnom Penh.

Three of the victims left the Philippines as tourists. The fourth departed on a speedboat from Palawan to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.

The victims said they were enticed by online job offers promising high salaries and quick deployment to Thailand.

But upon arrival in Thailand, they were taken to Cambodia and were reportedly forced to engage in fraudulent online activities such as love scams and phishing operations targeting foreigners.

“Human trafficking remains one of the most devious crimes affecting our people. These victims were lured with lies and ended up stripped of their rights and dignity. The government will not stop in its efforts to identify and dismantle the networks responsible for these abuses,” Viado said.

The BI is coordinating with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking to probe the recruiters and others linked to the victims’ illegal deployment.