2 Filipinos recruited as love scammers in Cambodia return to Philippines

Two Filipinos who were rescued by authorities after being recruited as love scammers in Cambodia returned to the Philippines on Saturday.

According to a 24 Oras Weekend report by John Consulta, the two Filipinos, one male and one female, arrived on Saturday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The Philippine Embassy in Cambodia fetched them from the scam farm where they were allegedly detained.

The rescue operation was conducted after GMA Integrated News received a video of one of the victims being held at a scam farm.

The male victim was offered a job at a call center in Thailand with a salary of $1,000, but he was instead taken to a scam farm in Cambodia, where he was also tortured.

“Ayaw po nila kami pauwiin. Sabi po nila papatayin daw po nila kami kapag nagsumbong kami sa inyo kasi yung mga nasa taas daw ay nasa triad, sindikato raw po. Tulungan nyo po kami, please po… Gusto na naming umuwi,” said the victim in a video.

(They refused to let us go home. They said they would kill us if we told you because those at the top were part of the triad—they were allegedly a syndicate. Please help us… We want to go home.)

The victim said that if he didn't convince enough foreigners to fall for the scam in a day, he would be hit and his hand would be pierced.

He became more determined to return home after he was asked to target OFWs in Saudi Arabia.

“Masakit po, pero hindi ko po magagawang tanggihan gawa kasi ng sinasaktan po nila ako kapag tumanggi kami sa kanila,” he added.

(It hurts, but we couldn’t refuse because they hurt us when we do.)

The victims were rescued after GMA Public Affairs Program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (KMJS) received footage of their experiences and submitted it to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“Nagpapasalamat lang po kami sa IACAT, sa embassy po ng Cambodia, lalo na sa [Department of Justice] at sa KMJS po, na gumawa po ng way samin para makaligtas po kami sa human trafficking na dinanas po namin sa Cambodia,” the victim said.

(We thank IACAT, the embassy in Cambodia, especially the [Department of Justice] and KMJS, who made a way for us to be rescued from human trafficking that we experienced in Cambodia.)

The two victims will undergo interviews with the Bureau of Immigration, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and IACAT to know how they were recruited as scammers. — Jiselle Anne Casucian and Jamil Santos/VBL, GMA Integrated News