MANILA, Philippines — Two women who initially believed they were bound for Bangkok, Thailand, for work opportunities were stopped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 after immigration officers uncovered inconsistencies in their documents and statements.

The Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) reported that the women, aged 25 and 31, claimed to be call center agents from a business process outsourcing (BPO) company in Quezon City and were supposedly traveling for tourism.

However, during questioning, the two admitted they were not actually coworkers but had been recruited for customer service representative (CSR) positions in Laos. 

They were promised a monthly salary of P50,000 but later learned the job may be linked to fraudulent activities.

The women also disclosed that they paid P3,000 to a fixer they met on social media, who provided them with documents to make it appear they were colleagues.

BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado warned Filipinos about job scams in some Asian countries, where workers are allegedly lured into high-paying call center jobs but end up being forced into fraudulent schemes.

“We strongly advise Filipinos to be cautious when accepting job offers abroad, especially those that seem too good to be true,” Viado said. “Many of these so-called call center jobs turn out to be fronts for large-scale scam operations that exploit and endanger our fellow countrymen.”

The two women were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for further investigation.