Catphishing syndicate gives victim-recruits fake return tickets — BI

By TONY CHAVEZ

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned the public about catphishing syndicates recruiting Filipinos to work illegally abroad.

BI Officer-in-Charge Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado issued a warning upon learning the interception of three victims at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 last September 21.

In a report to Viado, the BI’s immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) detailed how the 28-year old male victim and the 24 and 27-year-old female victims were stopped from departing the country before boarding an Air Asia flight to Thailand.

The trio initially posed as tourists visiting Thailand for a holiday.  The male and one of the female victims claimed to be a couple, while the other female pretended to be a co-worker.

During the primary inspection, the officer noted several discrepancies in their documents and referred them for secondary inspection. Verifications revealed that they had submitted a fake return flight ticket, hinting that they had no plans of actually returning to the country.

The victims eventually admitted that the documents they presented were merely given by their recruiter, who ordered them to pose as traveling companions.  They shared that they were recruited via Facebook messenger to work in Cambodia as customer service representatives with a salary of more than 50,000 PhP.

Authorities believe that the trio were recruited to work for a catphishing syndicate masquerading as a legitimate call center in Cambodia.

The BI earlier warned about the said syndicate, who recruits Filipinos and forces them to partake in the illegal activity.

The syndicate reportedly traps Filipino victims by forcing them to work as scammers as part of the syndicate, luring Western victims via dating sites to invest in fake cryptocurrency accounts.

Viado lamented that many still fall for the scam, which promises competitive salaries and enticing incentives.

All three victims have been turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation and to initiate legal action against their recruiter.