Philstar.com
November 28, 2022 | 5:28pm
MANILA, Philippines — More than 30 more Filipinos may still be trapped in a cryptocurrency scam operation in Myanmar, Sen. Risa Hontiveros — who bared the use of fake job ads to lure Filipinos into scam operations abroad — said.
Hontiveros said one of the 12 recently rescued trafficked workers said they know of 31 other overseas Filipino workers who fell victim to the scam, but that there may be more and that they may be enduring torture for failing to hook victims into the crypto investment scam.
“We don’t know how many Filipinos are in this predicament,” Hontiveros said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart” on Monday, adding that the syndicate has found a way to reroute victims via Malaysia to thwart attempts by the Bureau of Immigration to monitor migrant worker departures.
Hontiveros in her privilege speech last week said Filipinos were being recruited through Facebook to take jobs in Thailand to work as customer service representatives in a call center or as data encoders.
READ: Hontiveros bares fake job ads, trafficking of Pinoys to Myanmar for crypto scam
However, they ended up in the scam operations where they are tasked to recruit other victims. Rescued workers were “forced to work at least 12 or more hours a day” in abusive conditions.
‘They had a quota and if they couldn’t deliver on their quota… one of the victims said they knew they would get hurt,” Hontiveros said….
