How Pinoys turn tables on job, WFH scams flooding inboxes

June 18, 2025 - 3:05 PM
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Online-scammer
(Image by pikisuperstar via freepik)

Filipinos are flipping the script on suspicious job scams that continue to proliferate on messaging platforms — by baiting the scammers themselves.

Threads user @glorean on Monday, June 17 posted about encountering an individual from Viber who offered her a work-from-home (WFH) job as a “product reviewer” with a salary ranging from “P1,400 to P3,500 per day.”

The individual, named “Victoria,” introduced herself as a human resources person from “CICOR Digital Marketing Philippines.”

There is no firm with such a name, although there is a company called CICOR Marketing in the United States.

“Victoria” said the job does not require any experience and then asked for permission to “provide more details.”

But the scammer became the applicant when user @glorean flipped the pitch on the scammer by claiming she was an “HR from Infinite Agency.”

“Can you work from home as a part-time/freelance reviewer for the Temu Shopping App? May I introduce you po?” the Threads user replied.

To her surprise, “Victoria” responded affirmatively and said she needed a part-time job.

“THE TURNS HAVE TABLED???” Threads user @glorean wrote on her post.

It is a play on the phrase, “The tables have turned,” which indicates a change in situation where a person now has an advantage over someone who previously had the advantage over them.

User @glorean’s post has received 1,700 likes and caught the attention of the “Klasik Titos and Titas” account, which reposted it on their Facebook page, further earning viral status.

“Oh, loko! ‘The turns have tabled,'” the account wrote on Tuesday, June 17.

The Facebook post has amassed 17,000 likes and reactions, 1,100 shares, and almost 380 comments, with some Filipinos sharing similar experiences in the comments section.

Reverse recruiting became someone’s tactic when another Facebook user shared a screenshot showing her trying to act as an “HR from Integral Media,” offering a WFH job from Temu, when someone previously messaged her about a job opportunity.

Similar to what the Threads user experienced, the one who offered the job first replied with, “okay po.”

Another user shared their experience of offering a so-called job opportunity to someone who initially messaged them.

However, the response was not what they had expected.

The individual caught wind of the trick and responded with ridiculous answers to the user’s question for the “job opportunity.”

The individual instead answered being “800 years old” and having a GCash or Maya account of “123456789.”

An online user joked about creating a group chat of “HR” personnel who have been messaging her about job offers.

“Malapit na’ko gumawa ng GC. Pagsama-samahin ko mga HR. Hahahaha,” the user said, sharing a screenshot showing her tricking a person offering her a job.

Another Pinoy tricked an individual who sent her a job offer by claiming to need “advice” as a clothing design studio owner.

Job scams abound

These fake “job offers” from individuals are identified as “task scams” or “online task scams” in which the scammer asks the person to do simple and repetitive tasks like liking videos or rating products online.

The supposed job is to complete tasks on a platform, for which the victim will earn money from a so-called commission on each click.

While it may seem legit at first when the victim receives actual money, it gets tricky when they are told to deposit their own money to complete the next set of tasks and get their supposed earnings.

Legitimate jobs are not supposed to require individuals to shell out money in order to do their work.

Such task scams are usually found in messaging platforms like Viber, Telegram and WhatsApp.