PAGCOR has clarified that the matter concerned not so much gambling as much as it did job postings and advertisements promising excellent salaries and working conditions. According to the regulator, those ads were the work of “unscrupulous groups” involved in human-trafficking and crypto scams.
Beware of Fake POGO Job Postings, Says PAGCOR
POGOs have been causing a lot of stir in Asia, and specifically those that have been running their operations illegally in the region. Unlawful POGOs have been attracting local and foreign nationals with the promise of tidy salaries, with those arriving only to find themselves put in squalor and exploitative working conditions.
Workers attempting to leave have been beaten and placed in captivity, PAGCOR warned, citing years of reports about the issues. However, PAGCOR is now doubling down on its efforts to inform the public and keep job-seekers from falling prey to such predatory practices. For the most part, the offers that are posted concern Customer Service Representative positions that have to do with crypto trading.
The ads run by the criminal offer a high basic salary along with bonuses. However, many of these ads are proving bogus and the work of human-trafficking rings, organized criminal groups, and scammers. PAGCOR has urged the public to always make sure that a POGO that is advertising jobs is part of the Offshore Gaming Licensees and Service Providers list.
This is a list of entities that are authorized to offer gambling legally in the country and are the only ones that can be posting job offerings for similar positions. This renewed regulatory zeal comes in the wake of enforcement action that saw a POGO provider operating in Sun Valley Clark had its license suspended.
The country has also been grappling with another matter, which is the appearance of a fake website that “stole” the name of a US history awareness project and used it to beguile unwitting citizens into illegal gambling.
PAGCOR has been toughening its tone on gambling operations. The regulator explicitly warned POGOs to not sub-license to third parties, as that would breach their own licensing conditions and lead to enforcement action.