Filipino migrants allegedly scammed by Fil-Canadian recruiter
Photo from Migrant Affairs/Facebook
Migrant Filipino workers in Canada have fallen prey to an alleged scam promising jobs and permanent residencies by Filipino Canadian recruiter Jeanett Moskito.
Despite facing 35 labor violations over the past decade, Moskito’s companies Link4Staff and Berderald Consulting have remained operational, according to an investigative report by CBC News.
Moskito, 52, has allegedly been offering the Canadian dream to Filipino migrants for over a decade.
The Fil-Canadian recruiter often portrayed success on social media, but a CBC News investigation revealed that she has been identified as one of Ontario’s labor offenders, who allegedly charged her clients illegal fees.
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Victims of the alleged recruitment scam
One of Moskito’s alleged victims was Filipino migrant John Gabriel Quizo.
Quizo, 36, moved to Canada in 2022 to study hotel and restaurant management in hopes of supporting his family in the Philippines.
For $6,000, he was allegedly promised a full-time job with a legal work permit, which Moskito claimed would lead to a permanent residency.
Upon learning that his friend had secured a job through Moskito, Quizo said he thought her company was legitimate.
“I (thought) that it was legit,” Quizo told CBC News.
After paying half of the recruitment fee, Quizo quit school and began working as a housekeeper at two hotels.
After working for seven months, Quizo’s name was removed from the job schedule and his student visa expired, and there was no new work permit, as promised by Moskito.
Without work documents, he is now homeless and lives in a men’s shelter. Borrowing money to survive, Quizo said he was “too ashamed to fly back home.”
Quizo is one of “hundreds” of Filipino migrants who have fallen prey to the alleged scam, according to Migrante Ontario.
Despite orders from the Ontario Ministry of Labour to repay illegal recruitment fees — totaling $200,000 in all 61 cases — Moskito allegedly faced minimal consequences, with fines as low as $250.
Migrante Ontario shared in a social media post that Moskito’s labor violations date back to 2018 when Filipino workers at Ravine Farms reported her alleged illegal practices.
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Five more workers have filed complaints in 2023, with support from Migrante Ontario and the Migrants Resource Center in Canada.
Many have claimed they paid fees ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, but never obtained the valid work permits allegedly promised by Moskito.
Despite the complaints filed against her company, Moskito has reportedly continued to post ads on Canada’s official job site.
In a public advisory shared by the Department of Migrant Workers Ontario, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) stated that “Canada is a ‘NO PLACEMENT FEE COUNTRY.”
The Philippine Consulate General in Calgary also issued an advisory urging migrants to avoid any transactions with Moskito and her companies that “ask for excessive fees in exchange for fraudulent job offers.”
Filipino Canadian lawyer Jake Aguilar told CBC News the fines issued were too small to deter Moskito and others from engaging in fraudulent recruitment.
“You get a violation, you pay, that’s it. You can do it again. You can do it as often as you want — as long as you pay for the penalty, there’s no limit,” Aguilar said.
Migrante Ontario and other advocacy groups are pushing for reforms to protect migrants from exploitation and predatory practices.
