24 Filipinos rescued from Cambodia scam firms

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday reported another batch of repatriated Filipinos forced to work in scam operations in Cambodia over the weekend.

The group, composed of 24 Filipinos, including 15 women, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Saturday aboard a Philippine Airlines flight from Phnom Penh.

BI said the victims were recruited through social media with offered them jobs as customer service representatives earning up to $1,500 (around P85,000).

However, they were only paid $300 (around P17,000) and forced to pose as love scammers targeting European men.

The victims said they endured verbal and physical abuse when they failed to meet quotas. Some were also later sold to other companies. BI said one victim left the Philippines wwith his entire family for a supposed five-day holiday in Bangkok.

All 24 Filipinos departed the Philippines posing as tourists.

Immigration officers also recently intercepted two trafficking victims attempting to board an AirAsia flight to Thailand. They initially claimed to be on vacation but later admitted that they had been offered jobs as encoders.

The two intercepted passengers were referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance.

At least two recruiters are under investigation for facilitating the victims’ departure, and authorities are also looking into possible collusion with personnel involved.