The Philippine Consulate General in Hawaii has warned Filipinos living in the state against accepting fake offers for call center jobs in Southeast Asia, saying they might end up being scammed by syndicates.
In an advisory, the consulate said the recruitment scam involves flying Filipino recruits to a Southeast Asian country, from which they’re taken to nearby countries and brought to adjacent areas to work as “online scammers engaged in cryptocurrency.”
“Many of the Filipino trafficked victims who engage in these online scamming activities have experienced abuse at the hands of these criminal syndicates, including physical and psychological abuse; made to work long hours under difficult work conditions; nonpayment of wages; confiscation of their passports, mobile phones and gadgets; and held hostage and made to pay exorbitant amounts of money should they wish to leave. Some are even threatened with death or cutting off their hands if they do not cooperate,” it said.
As if working as a scammer isn’t bad enough, the consulate said some recruits were sold to other syndicates engaged in other forms of slavery, including sexual slavery.
The Department of Foreign Affairs recently rescued several Filipinos in Cambodia and Myanmar who were victimized by the recruitment scam.