(File photo)
MANILA – Two more victims of a cryptocurrency scam syndicate were recently repatriated from Myanmar, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Wednesday.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the repatriates, a male and a female, arrived via a Philippine Airlines flight from Bangkok on March 4.
Both victims were reportedly recruited in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where they formerly worked and flew to Thailand as tourists on October 2022 with another Filipino they only met on the flight.
They were said to have been recruited by an agent that promised that expenses will be deducted from their salaries amounting around PHP48,000 a month to work as customer service representatives.
But upon arrival in Thailand, a foreign escort fetched them using a sport utility vehicle and travelled for 16 hours. They stopped on a riverside to ride a boat, and were escorted by uniformed men until they arrived in the company where they were set to work.
It was only then that they found out that they were already in Myanmar, and not in Thailand as what they were initially told.
Both were able to return to the country after seeking help from Philippine authorities through a former victim who was earlier repatriated.
“We have observed that these human traffickers are preying on OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) with expiring visas, particularly in the middle east, and are enticing them to work as call center agents in Asian countries,” Tansingco said.
“However we are now seeing that this is a human trafficking scheme, and the victims end up being forced to scam other people and are being subjected to physical torture,” he added.
Tansingco reiterated his call to would-be OFWs to apply through the Department of Migrant Workers to be able to legally work abroad. (PNA)
