GENERAL SANTOS CITY, March 21 – At least 100 students and faculty gathered at the MSU-General Santos AVR to participate in an informative discussion focused on raising awareness about the dangers of scam hubs, March 21.
The #FightScams Forum: Mobilizing Active Citizens is a discussion that aims to inform individuals about how scam hubs operate.
Other topics also included effective strategies on how individuals could protect themselves from online scams and the pivotal role of government and civil society in preventing human trafficking.
According to Carmela Reyes, the program head of the forum from ACF, forums like these are important for raising awareness among people who are not yet aware of issues that Filipinos are currently facing.
“Kung hindi man natin masugpo totally na wala nang magsa-scam sa atin, tayo na mismo magkaroon ng initiatives na kapag nakita natin ang mga red flags, tayo na mismo lumayo sa scams,” she said.
The forum was organized by the Center for Women Studies (CWS) and MSU-Cultural Affairs Office (CAO) in partnership with the Active Citizenship Foundation (ACF), the Office of Senator Risa Hontiveros, and the British Embassy in Manila.
It is part of the Stop Scam Hubs Campaign, a campaign intended for raising awareness and combatting human trafficking and forced labor orchestrated by multinational syndicates through scam hubs.
The campaign was created from the experiences of trafficked Filipino victim-survivors in Myanmar in 2021, where they were duped into believing they were being recruited to work as call center agents in Thailand, only to be recruited to become crypto scammers.
“Rita,” one of the victims rescued, was also part of the forum.
She shared about her real-life experiences and reminded participants to watch out for red flags and to not to get enticed by offers that are “too good to be true”.
The next #FightScams Forum will be held in Cagayan de Oro and Quezon City.
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