Victims go after alleged traffickers engaged in ‘love scam’

MANILA — The offer came via Telegram and Facebook. They were promised a good working environment and salary, free air tickets, free visa and free medical treatment just to work for a company based in Pampanga, a province north of the Philippine capital.

And the requirements were easy to meet — 18 years old above, able to speak English and type 40 words per minute.

But when the more than 1,000 Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesians and other foreign and local recruits arrived in an industrial complex in Mabalacat, the promises turned out too good to be true.

Their passports were confiscated and they were “forced to work to defraud and scam victims in the form of investment and other means,” according to the complaint filed by the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) before the Department of Justice.

Not only were the recruits supposedly forced to work unsuitable hours with pay cuts, the working environment was allegedly not comfortable and some of them got sick.

“Employees who try to resign are denied and are forced to work…Stay-in employees are not allowed to leave the hub, and forced to live therein since [their] passports are confiscated and [they] could not obtain any salary if they leave,” the complaint said.

Acting on a tip from the Indonesian ambassador, the PNP-ACG on May 4, in collaboration with other government agencies, searched several 5-storey buildings in Mabalacat that yielded more than 1,000 recruits.

“This is the first time na 1,000 ‘yung mga victims natin ng human trafficking,” said Police Captain Michelle Sabino, spokesperson of the PNP-ACG.

Twelve mostly Chinese alleged traffickers were arrested but 2 of them agreed to become witnesses.

On Monday, May 15, 19 of the complainant-witnesses showed up at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the first hearing in the probe on the human trafficking complaint filed against 10 foreigners, who are also facing serious illegal detention/kidnapping raps.

The respondents were supposed to submit their counter-affidavits but Sabino said they asked for more time. They were given until next Monday, May 22, to answer the allegations against them.

HOW THE SCAM WORKED

Among the allegations they need to face is an allegedly elaborate scheme meant to lure investors to part with their hard-earned money to invest in a promising crypto-currency platform.

The scam works by requiring recruits to look for targets from the United States, Canada and other countries through dating apps like Facebook dating, Tinder, Bumble and Hinge.

“Once they find the target, they ask for their targets’ personal contact details and then start chatting them [through] Facebook, Instagram and other social media to make them fall in love with a fake character or profile,” claimed the complaint.

“[T]o convince their victims, they will start a video call where a female model appears in the video chat room,” the complaint said.

In an earlier interview, Sabino described how the complex houses video rooms that would resemble a bedroom, an office or a gym in an attempt to make their targets believe that they were talking to a “real and well-off person.”

But once the investors transfer bitcoins, they will then be blocked.

It’s a scheme that other crypto-scammers based in countries like Myanmar and Cambodia have deployed on Filipinos unwittingly recruited into “call centers” but one that is also happening on Philippine soil.

FILIPINO INVOLVEMENT

Yet, despite the operations taking place in the Philippines, none of those facing complaints before the DOJ at the moment are Filipinos.

A big question is how the foreigners managed to operate in the Philippines without conniving with Filipinos. 

The complaint claimed that the operations disguised itself as a business processing outsourcing (BPO) center but the company is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The PNP-ACG found the company was under another corporation who entered into a lease agreement with a real estate company but that lease agreement was not covered by a formal written contract.

Of the more than 1,000 rescued victims, more than 120 were Filipinos who were recruited as well into the scam.

REPATRIATION

The DOJ Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, the Bureau of Immigration as well as the Foreign Affairs and Social Welfare departments are now working with the different embassies to process the repatriation of the around 900 trafficking victims.

“We are actually preparing for their repatriation. So ‘yung BI (Bureau of Immigration) inaayos ‘yung mga documents para mabilis kasi pagod na rin ang mga tao na ito. They want to go back. Lahat inaayos ngayon. Nagtutulong-tulong ang mga to,” Sabino said, although there’s no definite timeline yet as to when the recruits can be brought home to their mother countries.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla vowed to oversee the repatriation of the trafficking victims and go after those behind the scheme.

“We hope that the people who perpetrated this crime will be made accountable and we have people in custody. That’s why it’s important that the cases are filed properly,” he said Monday.

This, as the department is also handling complaints against recruiters responsible for sending Filipino trafficking victims abroad.

On Monday, 6 Filipinos repatriated from Myanmar who also fell victim to the same scheme filed their own human trafficking complaints before the DOJ against their recruiters.

Authorities reiterated their warning to the public not to be lured by the promise of good work, high pay and a comfortable life that they see advertised on social media. Their advice — work abroad through the proper channels.