Filipino duped into 'wrong message' love scam repatriated

A 24-year-old male was repatriated late Sunday night after falling victim to a trafficking scheme linked to  a new way of executing ‘love scams,’ the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday. 

According to BI, the victim said he had been recruited to pose as multiple women to lure American citizens into investing in fraudulent investment platform.

Using social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and dating applications like Tinder, he would initiate contact by pretending to send a “wrong message,” followed by flirtatious conversations. 

The victim managed three fake female profiles. During video calls, the image used in the account would interact with the target victim.

He was also subject to 15-hour work shifts and quotas. According to the victim, once he failed to meet expectations, his employer would strike him on the head or threaten him with stun batons. 

In a report by BI, the victim was originally bound for Taipei declaring the purpose of travel as a ‘travel incentive.’ However, he later admitted during questioning that he intends to board a connecting flight from Taiwan to Cambodia. 

The victim works as a Customer Service Representative in an online betting company and was offered a similar position in Cambodia by his colleague. 

“He was informed that their former boss from the online betting company was also involved with the Cambodian operation,” the BI report read. 

BI said that gathered information regarding the case has been forwarded to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation.