Crime | Five stranded TNR scammed over job search

Five former non-resident workers (TNR) from the Philippines, currently stranded in Macau, have been defrauded by another Filipino over an alleged job referral scheme, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) reported yesterday.
The case was revealed when a group of five people (three men and two women) with ages ranging between 40 and 50 years old have reported to the police to have been involved in the scheme organized by a Filipino woman aged around 30 years old.
They told the police that the woman advertised through a communication application (app) group in August last year stating that she could help those stranded in Macau to find jobs, such as cleaning services, in Macau.
The victims requested more information and they were told that in order to get the job, they would have to pay a referral fee in advance.
According to the victims, they have paid the suspect sums ranging between 10,000 patacas and 16,000 patacas.
After the payment, the victims did not receive any communication regarding the alleged job and when they contacted the suspect, they only heard excuses that the job referral was being processed and it would take more time.
Eventually, and through a different group chat on the same app, the victims found each other and together decided to file a complaint about the fraud.
According to the report, the five victims handed the suspect a total of 62,400 patacas in referral fees.
The PSP spokesperson also said that once the woman received the payment, she issued receipt slips to the victims which resulted in them trusting the scheme.
After being detained for questioning, the woman responsible for the scam refused to reveal details on the reasons behind it, but she noted to also be a stranded TNR in Macau.
She was currently staying in Macau on a report slip while waiting to return home after she had been fired from her previous job and her blue card had been canceled.
She has been presented to the Public Prosecutions Office for fraud.