6 recruited to fake jobs in Thailand brought home from Myanmar scam center
MANILA, Philippines — Six Filipinos duped into working in a scam center in Myanmar have been brought home by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, the Palace said.
They were brought home through the combined efforts of the PAOCC, and the Office of the Police Attaché in Thailand, where the six had fled after crossing the border.
According to the Palace release, the six had been recruited through social media and had been made to believe they would be working in call centers in Thailand. When they arrived, though, they were brought to Myawaddy, Myanmar to work in love scam and cryptocurrency operations.
They were able to get in touch with Police Col. Dominador Matalang, the police attaché in Bangkok, who coordinated with the PAOCC for their rescue.
"The six Filipinos had to endure a tortuous journey by land from KK Park and Century Park Myawaddy to the border crossing of Myanmar and Thailand. They then crossed the Moi River by boat to the other side of the border, where they had to travel for another thirty minutes to a hotel in Mae Sot City, Thailand," the Palace said.
The six had to cross the border without papers because their recruiters had taken their passports along with their personal items, the Palace also said.
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Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, chair of the PAOCC, gave the six financial assistance to help them start over. They have also received legal, medical and psychological aid through the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking and the police Women and Children Protection Center, the Palace said.
Agencies, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, have been bringing home Filipinos who ended up working in scam centers in Myanmar after being recruited to fake jobs in Thailand over social media. The discovery of Filipinos being scammed into working at the crypto scam centers triggered a Senate investigation in November 2022.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who inititated the hearings last last year, said in April that scam centers had also been set up in the Philippines and that hundreds of foreigners were being held in them.
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