A LAWMAKER wants to investigate fake overseas job postings on social media that lure mostly young Filipinos, who end up as cryptocurrency scammers.
“There have been countless reports of Filipinos being victimized by local placement agencies for non-existent jobs abroad and syndicates offering high-paying jobs, but the jobseeker ends up in a dubious cryptocurrency group,” Deputy Speaker and Las Piñas City Rep. Camille A. Villar said in House Resolution No. 899, which she filed.
Ms. Villar said there are “devious schemes of alleged syndicates, placing job postings or commenting on trending posts on social media platforms, particularly Facebook, to lure victims into believing that cryptocurrency is the next big thing and that they would get their dream job abroad.”
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has warned the public against offers on social media and advised job seekers to refer to the Department of Migrant Workers’ record of accredited recruitment agencies.
Ms. Villar cited an incident when the BI rescued six Filipinos from crypto-trafficking syndicates who offered jobs supposedly in e-gaming companies and business process outsourcing firms. They were promised a monthly salary of $800 to $1,000 on the condition that they leave the country disguised as tourists.
The bureau also said that it is investigating four immigration officers assigned at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga for their suspected links with a Chinese human trafficking syndicate.
According to an investigation by Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel, syndicates pay BI agents as much as P100,000 for every trafficked Filipino.
In November last year, 12 victims of an illegal recruitment scheme in Myanmar were rescued by the government in coordination with the office of Ms. Hontiveros.
“The stories of Filipinos being victimized into working abroad legitimately but end up working as scammers instead underscore the need for the government to aggressively pursue policies that would better protect them from illegal recruiters and international syndicates,” Ms. Villar said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz