The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has warned Filipinos who are looking for jobs to be extra careful of job opportunities and employment advertisements posted online. Some of these job offers may be too good to be true and may include scams such as money laundering, pyramid schemes, or human trafficking.
Also Read: How to Sign up for DOLE-AKAP PHP 10,000 Ayuda Assistance
A warning was issued on Sunday after the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Madrid, Spain received a request to verify an online employment offer for a fruit farm cashier job with a salary of 3,000 to 6,000 euros, or equivalent to PHP175,000 to PHP350,000.
POLO Madrid Warns Overseas Workers of Job Offers Posted Online
Joan Lourdes Lavilla, the POLO Madrid Labor Attaché, advised prospective employees to exercise caution when considering “too good to be true” job offers in other countries.
“We advise jobseekers to be very cautious. Scammers use names of legitimate companies and when you look at the job offer, it is usually too good to be true. They also give mobile numbers only. One tip is to check their given address using Google maps because sometimes there is no actual structure or company,” Lavilla said in a virtual briefing on Friday.
In a recent incident, a Filipina reported a possible scam to POLO Madrid. The Filipina verified the details of the job poster to them. It was later found out that the job posting was not real.
More so, the applicant was required to send money to them through a money remittance center. Be advised that you should not be paying any fee nor should you send money if you are applying for a job.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s website poea.gov.ph may be used by Filipino candidates looking for work in other countries to check the validity of job offers.
POLO Madrid’s jurisdiction includes Filipino overseas workers based in Spain, France, Portugal, Monaco, and Andorra. Household services workers, hotel and restaurant employees, and professionals in fields such as information technology, researchers, managers, and nurses are the most common OFWs found on this side of Europe.
If you are an OFW abroad, please be very careful especially with jobs being posted online and you cannot easily fall for these scams. Be aware that it might be a trick like the mentioned incident above. Exercise your best judgment when considering to apply for these jobs posted online.
If you need further assistance, it is best to contact the nearest POLO-OWWA office in order to inquire from the officers about the legitimacy of these job opportunities.
If you are Filipino planning to work abroad, the legal process is to look for jobs via agencies that are accredited by the POEA. The POEA also encourages potential overseas Filipino workers to take and pass the standardized tests and skills assessment tools.