Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 26) – Cryptocurrency scam syndicates lure Filipinos into human trafficking schemes through social media applications such as Facebook, TikTok and Telegram, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Sunday.
“The trafficking landscape is very different now. Professionals are being lured into seemingly good-paying opportunities, only to end up being trafficked in this crypto scam,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.
The BI learned of the scam after eight Filipinos who were lured to work for crypto-syndicates in Cambodia were repatriated on Feb. 26.
According to the BI, six men and two women were repatriated to the Philippines on Sunday from Phnom Penh, Cambodia with the help of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Department of Migrant Workers, and the Office of Senator Risa Hontiveros.
The victims told the BI that they had been recruited through bogus advertisements on Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram.
They were promised salaries of up to $1000 every month. Upon arrival, they were forced to work 16 to 18 hours a day and were not given any days off.
Schemes like this lure Filipinos to countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar, where they end up being forced to scam foreigners in the United States and Canada.
There have also been reports that victims of the scheme were tortured.
READ: Hontiveros: Filipinos lured to work as crypto scammers in Cambodia
Of the eight repatriated victims, three left the Philippines through the Clark International Airport, where they were cleared for travel by an immigration officer under investigation for involvement in the trafficking scheme.
READ: 3 immigration officers under probe over involvement in human trafficking
Two victims pretended to be tourists and left the country through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The remaining three were smuggled out of the country from Zamboanga without passing through formal ports. They traveled for seven days, passing through Jolo in Sulu province, then Brunei, Jakarta, and Thailand before reaching Cambodia.
