INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has expressed alarm over the increase in cases involving Filipinos being trafficked by catfishing syndicates.

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BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado revealed that the agency intercepted 14 victims attempting “to depart for illegal work in scam hubs abroad” last week.

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“The first wave of interceptions occurred on February 4, when three victims, aged 33, 25, and 27, were rescued at NAIA Terminal 1 while trying to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Thailand,” the BI said in a statement on Sunday.

At first, the agency’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section reported that the passengers appeared to be first-time travelers on a self-funded trip to Thailand, but their “conflicting responses during initial questioning raised suspicions” among authorities.

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Later, the first batch of rescued victims admitted they had been recruited to work in Cambodia as customer service representatives for a business process outsourcing company (BPO).

As the US Federal Reserve is expected to finally cut its own borrowing costs next week, the ECB reduced its key rate by a quarter percentage point again, as expected.

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On the other hand, 11 trafficking victims in their mid-20s were intercepted while attempting to board the same airline bound also for Thailand on February 5.

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The BI said the victims also gave conflicting responses to authorities, prompting them to investigate further.

The results of the agency’s in-depth questioning revealed that the victims had been “lured with promises of P50,000 monthly pay to work at fraudulent BPOs in Pakistan.”

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“The recruiter had instructed them to pose as students on vacation and to conceal their Pakistani visas,” it said.

“The intercepted victims were referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance, and efforts are underway to file cases against the recruiters,” it added.

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Viado stressed that these schemes “place Filipinos in perilous situations where they face limited or no opportunity for escaperoyal circle club, trapped in illegal work within unregulated industries and fraudulent business operations.”

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