MANILA, Philippines – Possibly dozens of Filipinos who looked to provide for their families with jobs abroad have been duped into working for a scam.
In a November 2022 privilege speech, Senator Risa Hontiveros exposed a case of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were trafficked into Myanmar after being recruited as call center agents or workers for Philippine offshore gaming operators through various social media platforms.
Once they got there, they were forced allegedly by a Chinese mafia to engage in a cryptocurrency scam. Failure to scam people meant salary cuts or physical abuse.
On January 18, Hontiveros exposed another case of OFWs brought to Cambodia to perform the same exact crypto scam.
The reports have prompted the Senate to investigate, starting with a committee hearing on Wednesday, January 25. Here’s what we know so far.
How are Filipinos recruited?
According to Hontiveros, the OFWs were offered positions of customer service representatives, chat support agents, or data encoders at call centers.
An OFW only known as “Ron,” who spoke at the January 25 hearing, said he talked with his reportedly Malaysian recruiter online after being introduced by a childhood friend in April 2022.
Hontiveros has posted warnings on her social media account about what social media job postings for the crypto scam looked like.
Ron, once in Phnom Penh, was made to sign a contract that had a job description of befriending…
