MANILA, Philippines – In a span of just seven days, 14 Filipinos fell victim to catphishing syndicates attempting to traffic them abroad, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Sunday. 

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said that the cases are becoming an alarming trend, noting that the victims were intercepted before they could leave the country for illegal work in scam hubs overseas.

“The scheme places Filipinos in perilous situations where they face limited or no opportunity for escape, trapped in illegal work within unregulated industries and fraudulent business operations,” Viado said in a statement.

Wave of interceptions at NAIA

The first group of three victims—aged 33, 25, and 27—was intercepted on February 4 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 while attempting to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Thailand. 

BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) flagged them as first-time travelers on a self-funded trip, but their conflicting responses during questioning raised suspicions.

Further investigation revealed that the victims had been recruited to work in Cambodia as supposed customer service representatives for a business process outsourcing (BPO) company.

A second wave of interceptions occurred on February 5, when 11 more individuals in their mid-20s were stopped while attempting to board the same airline to Bangkok.

The victims initially claimed to be students traveling on a four-day trip, but inconsistencies in their statements led to further scrutiny. Upon deeper questioning, they admitted they had been promised P50,000 monthly salaries to work in fraudulent BPOs in Pakistan. 

Their recruiters had instructed them to pose as students and hide their Pakistani visas, the bureau said.

Traffickers exploiting young Filipinos

BI I-PROBES Chief Mary Jane Hizon warned that traffickers are increasingly preying on young Filipinos, luring them with false job offers for legitimate-sounding BPO roles.

“These traffickers promise legitimate employment in reputable BPO companies, only for the victims to end up trafficked into scam hubs and forced to work as catphishers,” Hizon said.

The intercepted individuals were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance, while authorities are working to file cases against their recruiters.