The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported on Wednesday that illegal gambling operations are luring Filipinos to work in gambling hubs abroad following the ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators’ (POGOs) activities in the country.
Intelligence reports show that POGOs are paying call center agents to act as “brand ambassadors” in order to recruit people to work in illegal gambling hubs overseas, according to BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval.
“Since we banned it in the Philippines, we see similar operations in other Asian countries kaya reverse ang nangyayari. Ang mga kababayan natin ang nare-recruit palabas [ng bansa],” she said during a press conference at Malacañang.
“Very rampant siya sa social media. We are quite worried about this trend dahil hindi lang ito trend sa Pilipinas. It is something observed in other countries in the regions,” she added.
“Itong mga scam hubs na ito are expanding their reach and are trying to open similar operations as far as the Middle East.”
Sandoval elaborated on the scheme, explaining that recruiters target young call center agents and people working in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, offering them a monthly salary of P50,000.
“May recruitment inside BPOs. May kakuntsaba yung mga scam hubs abroad sa loob ng mga BPOs that recruit employees there para makalabas ng bansa,” she said.
“It is not real. Pagdating doon, it is a scam hub. Technically, miyembro na sila ng sindikato dahil kasama sila sa scammers,” she added.
She explained that recruiters would take the passports of the recruits, arrange for them to enter Thailand as tourists, and then transport them across the border.
“Kukunin yung kanilang passport, itatawid sila ng border. They would go to the jungle tapos may compound sa gitna ng gubat,” she said.
“It is a type of trafficking because it is debt bondage. May utang ka na agad bago ka pa makauwi ng Pilipinas,” she added.
Additionally, Sandoval mentioned that some of the POGOs that were shut down in the Philippines are now operating in smaller groups.
“Most of the illegal POGO operations are in smaller groups in gated communities like in condominiums, residences, yung hindi basta-basta napapasok ng mga tao,” she said.