MANILA — The Philippine government warned Filipino workers Monday against accepting job offers tied to online scam operations in Cambodia, citing a strict new law that criminalizes technology-based fraud and could see recruited workers arrested rather than rescued.
The Department of Migrant Workers said 51 Filipinos remain detained in Cambodia while authorities investigate whether they were trafficking victims or willing participants in scam operations. An additional 32 Filipinos who identify as human trafficking victims are now sheltered at the Philippine Migrant Workers Office, according to DMW Undersecretary Felicitas Bay.
Of those detained, 23 are held in a provincial prison in Battambang and 28 in Sihanoukville, Bay said during a media briefing.
Bay said Cambodia has begun enforcing its Law on Combating Technology-Based Fraud, which empowers the country’s Commission for Combating Online Scam to investigate, dismantle and prosecute cyber fraud and human trafficking networks. Those convicted of running scam operations involving organized crime, trafficking or forced criminality face five to 20 years in prison. Recruiters and trainers face five to 10 years, while people who gather personal data for criminal use face one to three years, she said.
The law’s enforcement complicates the Philippines’ response, Bay said, because Cambodian authorities may initially classify trafficked workers as offenders due to their participation in scam activities, even though the Philippine government considers them victims. The DMW has hired a legal retainer to help sort out each detainee’s status.
Bay estimated 13,000 Filipinos are legitimately employed in Cambodia in sectors including education, health care, information technology and sales. She urged Filipinos to be wary of social media job postings advertising marketing or customer service roles, saying many are fronts for scam compound recruitment. Workers already trapped in such operations should flee and contact the nearest Philippine embassy or migrant workers office, she said.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac reinforced the warning, urging Filipinos considering jobs at scam farms in Cambodia or Myanmar to abandon those plans. He said workers caught in such operations typically face deportation and may be jailed for several days during investigations — an experience he called far from desirable.
