LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) intercepted a woman recruited to work in a suspected scam hub in Cambodia.

The BI said the August 17 interception was in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to protect Filipinos from trafficking and exploitation abroad.

The 30-year-old victim, identified only as alias “Irma,” attempted to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Vietnam. She initially told inspectors she worked for a construction company and was traveling alone as a birthday gift to herself.

After noticing inconsistencies in her statements, BI officers referred her for secondary inspection. There, the Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) learned she was actually bound for Cambodia after being offered a job by her cousin.

She said a Cambodia-based Filipino promised her a monthly salary of ₱55,000, though she had no details about the role. She also received ₱28,000 through online banking, with instructions not to spend it since it would be charged to her cousin.

“This is an obvious trafficking scheme where victims are being led to having debts to their recruiters, making it harder to say no,” BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said. “We suspect that she is being led to work for scam hubs abroad, where numerous repatriates have already recounted their harrowing experiences after being forced to be part of the syndicate.”

The victim was turned over to the MCIA Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance and filing of cases against her recruiters.

Viado warned Filipinos against falling for dubious overseas job offers. “It is so easy to recruit these days in social media and online messaging apps. Do not agree to these illegal schemes and shortcuts. There are hundreds of stories of victims who were tricked into these schemes, and only ended up abused,” he said.

He urged aspiring overseas workers to only take job offers vetted by the Department of Migrant Workers.