Pogo scams overseas: Filipinos now joining them — BI

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

After the country banned Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) in late 2024, scam hubs recruiting Filipinos are reportedly attempting to expand their operations not just in Southeast Asian countries but as far as the Middle East.

This was according to Dana Sandoval, spokesperson of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

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Sandoval said that the agency received intelligence information about the attempts of Pogo-like scam centers to start similar activities outside of the region.

“These scam hubs are expanding their reach and are trying to open similar operations in other countries as far as the Middle East; that’s the information that we got. We are quite worried about this trend because it extends beyond the Philippines,” Sandoval said in a Malacañang press briefing on Wednesday.

The BI spokesperson said they had discussed the alarming trend with other immigration agencies of other Southeast Asian nations.

Sandoval said Filipinos recruited to work in scam hubs are often bound for Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, but they usually pass through other countries first by posing as tourists in an attempt to evade detection.

In recent weeks, the BI has intercepted several outbound Filipino travelers posing as tourists or office mates on vacation who turn out to have been recruited as workers in Pogo-like scam hubs in the aforementioned countries.

Sandoval said scam hubs usually target young, well-educated Filipinos with backgrounds in business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to work in their illegal, fraudulent operations.

Apart from recruitment through social media networks like Facebook, the BI spokesperson said they also received information that scam hubs are also recruiting within BPOs here in the country.

“We received tips that some of those working in call centers and BPOs are in cahoots with scam hubs abroad. They are embedded inside BPOs and recruit employees to work in other countries,” Sandoval said.