THREE Filipino nationals who sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after being assaulted by Chinese nationals at a scam hub in Cambodia have been safely returned to the Philippines.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago said that the two 25-year-old women and one 26-year-old man were offered positions as call center agents but were forced to become scammers.
Director Santiago immediately responded and ordered the matter to be reported to the OIC-Executive Director of the DOJ-IACAT for appropriate action.
According to the victims’ statements to the NBI, they traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Dipolog City on January 7, 2025. They traveled by ferry through Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sabah, Malaysia before transferring to a small boat to Cambodia, where they arrived on January 17.
They were taken to a compound with several buildings and were not allowed to leave by their Chinese boss.
The NBI said that they were encouraged to work as Customer Service Representatives for a casino company in Cambodia by a Filipino HR and were offered a salary of $1000 USD. Instead, they were tasked with scamming elderly foreigners through cryptocurrency on social media apps such as Signal, Twitter, and Instagram.
Furthermore, the promised salary of $1000 USD was reduced to only $300 USD.
When they tried to leave the scam hub, they were allegedly subjected to violence, including being kicked, whipped, and burned with cigarettes.
After gathering concrete information and through proper coordination with several government agencies, the NBI immediately acted and rescued the victims, bringing them back to the Philippines.
Santiago expressed gratitude to their Cambodian counterparts who assisted the victims.
Santiago emphasized that this success is proof of the strong and unwavering collaboration between the two nations against transnational crimes.
