Do not accept job offers by illegal recruiters on social media
Do not accept job offers abroad from illegal recruiters on social media, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned.
The warning was reiterated by Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco as he pointed out that Filipinos continue to fall prey to the scheme.
“These offers of illegal recruiters to facilitate your travel would only increase your vulnerabilities of exploitation,” Tansingco said.
“We remind aspiring OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) to only accept offers through legitimate channels, through the Department of Migrant Workers,” he advised.
Last Jan. 24, Tansingco said that two Filipinas arrived at Zamboanga International Seaport (ZIS) after being deported from Sandakan, Sabah.
“The duo, however, were found to have been trafficked to Malaysia with one of them being recruited via social media,” he said.
One of the two Filipinas "admitted to having been recruited via Facebook, and ended up as a restaurant worker,” the BI said.
It said that "her travel was facilitated by her recruiter, who flew with her to Malaysia in the guise of being legitimate tourists.”
The other victims, it said “left with her ex-partner, a Malaysian national, bound for Kota Kinabalu” and “ended up working illegally to help her partner, but was later arrested after a raid done by Malaysian authorities.”