Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) along Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) raid a BPO compound in Bagac, Bataan on October 31,2024 alleged to be a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), following a search warrant for human trafficking violations. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday warned the public that illegal gambling syndicates are now luring Filipinos to work in scam hubs overseas. 

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This, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. imposed a ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) in the country last year.

Intelligence reports showed that POGOs are funding some call center agents to act as “brand ambassadors” so that they could recruit their peers to work in illegal gambling hubs in other countries, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said. 

Although POGO is a Philippine government term, Filipinos were already being recruited to — and rescued from — scam centers abroad even before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a ban on POGOs in July 2024.

POGOs were originally meant to service gamblers looking to circumvent a ban on gambling in China but are now used to describe scam centers.

“Since we banned it in the Philippines, we see similar operations in other Asian countries kaya reverse ang nangyayari. Ang mga kababayan natin ang nare-recruit palabas [ng bansa],” she said in a press conference in Malacañang.

“Very rampant siya sa social media… We are quite worried about this trend dahil hindi lang ito trend sa Pilipinas. It is something observed in other countries in the regions,” she added.

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“Itong mga scam hubs na ito are expanding their reach and are trying to open similar operations as far as the Middle East."

BPO workers recruited

POGOs would usually target young call center agents and other workers who are from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, and would offer them a P50,000 monthly salary to work supposedly as customer service representatives abroad, Sandoval said. 

“May recruitment inside BPOs… May kakuntsaba yung mga scam hubs abroad sa loob ng mga BPOs that recruit employees there para makalabas ng bansa,” she said.

“It is not real. Pagdating doon, it is a scam hub. Technically, miyembro na sila ng sindikato dahil kasama sila sa scammers,” she added.

POGOs would usually arrange for their new recruits to travel as tourists to Thailand, then take them across the border to Cambodia, Myanmar or Lao via land or sea routes, the Immigration official said.

“Kukunin yung kanilang passport, itatawid sila ng border… They would go to the jungle tapos may compound sa gitna ng gubat,” she said.

Sandoval urged Filipinos not to engage in such offers as those who fall into this trap are either tortured to meet their quotas or are required to pay a release fee amounting to around P400,000.

“It is a type of trafficking because it is debt bondage. May utang ka na agad bago ka pa makauwi ng Pilipinas,” she said.

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Meantime, illegal gambling operators who remained in the Philippines despite the ban on POGOs are now operating in smaller groups, Sandoval said.

“Most of the illegal POGO operations are in smaller groups in gated communities like in condominiums, residences, yung hindi basta basta napapasok ng mga tao,” she said.

The Philippines has been coordinating with other Southeast Asian countries through intelligence sharing to curb the illegal recruitment and human trafficking schemes, the BI spokesperson said. 

Last year, Marcos banned all POGOs in the Philippines after congressional investigations and multiple raids showed that the industry was linked to several criminal activities including torture, prostitution and human trafficking. 

Since the ban took effect on January 1, 2025, only 11,000 of the 33,000 registered POGO workers have remained in the Philippines, according to data from the BI. 

Of the 11,254 POGO workers who stayed in the Philippines, 121 have been deported, 518 have been arrested, while 45 other voluntarily surrendered.

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