THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned job-seeking Filipinos amid a surge in reports of job offer scams.
The SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) said it had received reports of scams in which victims were contacted through messaging platforms such as Viber, Messenger, and Telegram.
“The EIPD urges the public not to engage in job offer scams and be vigilant when receiving job offers involving these scams and to immediately file reports or lodge their complaints via e-mail with the EIPD at epd@sec.gov.ph,” the SEC said in an e-mail statement over the weekend.
Victims are instructed to deposit money to access a dubious e-commerce platform that assigns paid tasks such as ordering or purchasing items, sorting orders, and clicking tasks.
Subsequently, victims are enticed to deposit more money in increasing amounts to access higher-paying tasks.
“Small deposits are initially paid the promised returns to dupe or fool the public to believe in the legitimacy and pour in more money in the platform,” the SEC said.
According to the SEC, the initial offer involves a P500 deposit for paid tasks worth P1,000. Once the job is completed and the payment is received, the victim is offered higher-paying tasks amounting to P10,000 but must deposit P5,000 to access the new workload.
“The cycle continues until the deposited amount balloons. Amounts differ depending on the mechanics of the scam,” the SEC said.
“Once the investors are hooked and have deposited big amounts, the platforms and their operators require victims to deposit more money in order to withdraw their supposed earnings for various reasons and eventually disappear,” it added.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the country’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in May from 4.1% in April.
The May unemployment rate was equivalent to 2.03 million jobless Filipinos, down from 2.06 million in April and 2.11 million a year earlier. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
