DFA warns about new recruitment scam

January 11, 2010, MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned Filipinos seeking jobs abroad about a new recruitment scam which the Philippine embassy in Germany uncovered.

In a statement, the DFA said two Filipinos contacted the embassy for help in verifying the status of a company named Markel-Power International, located in the northern German city of Bremen, which had informed the two through e-mail that they would be hired by the firm.

But the company had one condition for the jobs. They first had to pay 70 euros (about P4,600) through Western Union to an employment company based in Monza, a city in Italy’s Lombardy region.

The Philippine embassy discovered that Markel-Power International was non-existent, was not registered with the Bremen Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had a fictitious address, had no telephone and fax numbers, and was using a host in the United States for its English website.

“The embassy is convinced this recruitment scheme is another variation of the Nigerian 4-1-9 advance-fee scam designed to victimize innocent Filipino jobseekers,” chargé d’affaires Christine Queenie Mangunay said.

The Nigerian 4-1-9 scam, also known as the Nigerian advance-fee scheme, involves the receipt of an unsolicited letter allegedly from a Nigerian Central Bank employee or from the Nigerian government. It is named after the section of the Nigerian penal code which tackles fraudulent schemes.

The embassy has warned Filipino jobseekers of the new scam and has asked the DFA to bring the matter to the attention of relevant authorities such as the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Justice and Philippine National Police.

Meanwhile, an overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) group yesterday called on the Philippine government to do something about the “unabated” illegal recruitment of OFWs to Macau.

Cynthia Tellez, executive director of the Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) based in Hong Kong, said the Philippine government was ignoring the victims of illegal recruitment.

MFMW called on the government to provide immediate assistance, such as temporary shelter, legal counsel and air passage, to all victims of illegal recruitment, and to arrest and prosecute all illegal recruiters of Filipinos in Macau.

According to Tellez, MFMW handled nearly 50 OFWs who were victims of illegal recruitment to Macau in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Thirteen OFWs had sought the assistance of the Filipino Catholic Pastoral Center and Migrante Macau. Tellez said the group sought the assistance of the Philippine consulate on Jan. 5.

“We were told by the assistance to nationals section officer that we cannot get any assistance from them and they even blamed us for our plight,” Tellez quoted one of the OFWs, Rico Cabangon, as saying. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer