DMW: 70K fake online job offers thwarted
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has shut down more than 70,000 illegal online postings for jobs overseas on Facebook and TikTok, saving potentially thousands of Filipinos from paying hard-earned money for nonexistent jobs, or worse, slave-like working conditions abroad.
The 71,653 fake job postings and accounts taken down included 50,220 “suspicious” posts on Facebook and 21,433 on TikTok, the DMW said on Friday.
Removing such public notices for bogus jobs abroad is becoming increasingly necessary to thwart illegal recruitment online and to safeguard the well-being of future overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“As we find them, we take them down. Every illegal recruitment post we see online, we immediately report and coordinate with Facebook and TikTok for the deactivation of those accounts,” Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said in a statement.
He explained that unscrupulous entities were masquerading as legitimate recruitment agencies by duplicating the official Facebook pages of DMW-licensed agencies to convince job applicants of their legitimacy.
“We had a meeting with these agencies, and Facebook agreed to take down all these copycat sites,” Cacdac said.
“Filipino overseas jobseekers are encouraged to be more cautious against dubious job offers on social media and always verify the legitimacy of their preferred agencies to avoid falling victim to internet-related modus operandi of these illegal recruiters,” the DMW said.
It said that applicants could check whether an agency was legitimate against the DMW’s list of licensed agencies on the department’s website.
Crypto scammers
The Migrant Workers Protection Bureau of the DMW is also partnering with concerned government agencies, local government units, and key social partners to empower OFWs and aspiring OFWs, as well as to strengthen its monitoring and deterrence of illegal recruitment schemes.
The DMW has repeatedly warned Filipinos wanting to work overseas to be cautious about online postings, particularly those promising enticing jobs in Thailand, Singapore, or Vietnam as call center agents only to be brought into Cambodia, Myanmar, or Laos to work as cryptocurrency scammers.
In past cases, the DMW said, the victims were instructed to fly to these countries as tourists. They were also duped into paying placement fees of as much as P200,000.
One 35-year-old Filipino male who was bound for Hanoi, Vietnam, as a tourist was stopped from boarding his plane at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Jan. 12 by the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
The man disclosed that he was told by his recruiters on Facebook that he would first leave for Vietnam before being brought to Cambodia to work in a business process outsourcing company (BPO).
P45K a month
The BI said many BPO companies in these countries were fronts for illegal activities, such as catfishing, a fraudulent online scheme to lure victims into losing their money in bogus financial transactions.
In January 2024, a couple who had been recruited through social media as tele sales agents, with a promised salary of P45,000 per month, were released by the company after they and their families paid an estimated P800,000 for their “freedom,” according to the BI.
The agency said that the couple left the Philippines for Malaysia in April 2023, posing as tourists. They were then transported to Bangkok, Thailand, and then through the Mekong River, eventually arriving in Laos.
The couple said that they were picked up by Chinese men, but instead of working as tele sales agents, they worked as online casino agents. From December 2023 to January 2024, the two said that they were subjected to physical abuse.
In the same month, the DMW closed down Legal Connect Travel Consultancy, also known as Legal Connect Travel Services, based in Quezon City, after it was found offering fraudulent overseas jobs.
The DMW acted on three complaints from applicants who were stalled or ignored by the company after it had collected fees from them. Two of the complainants were Dubai-based OFWs and one from Manila.
Victimized in Milan
According to the DMW, Legal Connect was operating without a valid license and falsely advertised jobs in Italy and Malta with monthly salaries of P250,000 to P380,000. The company collected P80,000 to P100,000 in placement fees from applicants and made them wait for six to eight months for nonexistent jobs.
Employees of the company, which would be blacklisted, face charges that carry life imprisonment and hefty fines.
In October 2023, the DMW disclosed that more than 200 OFWs were allegedly victimized by the Milan, Italy-based Golden Power SRLS and Alpha Assistenza. Initial reports show that the supposed modus operandi of the agencies involves seeking Filipinos in Italy and offering nonexistent jobs in the European country for their unemployed relatives in the Philippines.
The victims were purportedly forced to pay high processing fees. According to an investigation by the Philippine consulate, at least 223 individuals were defrauded, with total fees amounting to as much as P40 million.
In December 2023, a total of 269 Filipinos in the Philippines filed formal complaints against the agencies for fraud and illegal recruitment, alleging that they were deceived into paying exorbitant placement and consultancy fees.
176 complainants
Two months earlier, authorities arrested seven suspects—Aida Agpas, Mae Angeline Miranda, Liezle Calantoc, Marc Devin Cachero, Vivian Puzon, Edelyn Gines and Raymundo Rodrigo—in an operation at Jewel Travel Documentation Service office in Barangay Bago Bantay, Quezon City.
The operation stemmed from the complaints of some 176 victims who told the police that they were promised jobs abroad in exchange for P200,000 to P300,000 in fees.
An investigation showed that the recruitment agency amassed around P43 million from the victims who were allegedly promised jobs in Canada, Poland, New Zealand and Australia. The complainants later found that the supposed employers in the host countries denied ties with the recruitment agency. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
