Hundreds of people forced to work at a “love fraud” center in the Philippines were rescued by police earlier this week, the BBC reported.
Those affected had been lured to a compound about 60 kilometers north of the country’s capital, Manila, with the promise of painting opportunities.
But upon arrival, human traffickers took away their passports and forced them to participate in online romance scams, Gilberto Cruz, executive director of the force that carried out the raid, told AFP, according to The Telegraph.
“Workers who have reached their quota . . . They have been physically injured, unable to sleep or locked in their rooms,” he said.
Winston Casio, a spokesman for the President’s Commission on Organized Crime, said the center, which posed as an online gaming company, particularly targeted “beautiful” Americans to ensnare people.
The case came to light after a Vietnamese man who said he had escaped from the compound alerted police.
Most of those rescued in the raid were Chinese or Filipinos. Police also confiscated several weapons at the scene, according to the BBC.
Eight other people suspected of human trafficking were also arrested.
Human trafficking for the purpose of forced crime, online scams, and money fraud is a “new and developing trend” in Southeast Asia, according to a 2023 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
This trend can be largely attributed to organized criminal groups, he adds, adding that in any country, the fraud industry can earn between $7. 5 billion and $12. 5 billion, which he says is part of the country’s GDP.
He added that the patients who were rescued from the fraudulent centers came from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America, which he said highlighted the global nature of the problem.
Steve Baird, executive director of Australia’s International Justice Mission, visited survivors of such operations in Cambodia and described what he heard as “horrifying. “
“Workers are allowed to leave buildings. They are secured with barbed wire, window bars, controlled elevators, and armed security guards. The men I spoke to were referring to 30 security guards in front,” he said.
“They worked 12 to 20 hours a day, six days a week, and slept an average of 4 hours a night,” he added.
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