The Fake Work Permit Scam Is Hitting Filipinos in Singapore. Learn the Signs Before September
Six men paid over S$14,000 for permits that never existed. With eight new job categories opening to Filipinos on 1 September, the syndicates selling fake jobs have a fresh wave of targets.
Six men handed over more than S$14,000 for a job that did not exist. Between March and June this year, each one paid a man who gave them official-looking papers stamped with the Ministry of Manpower's name. When they checked, MOM's Work Pass Division had no record of any application under their names. The permits were fake. The money was gone.
If you are hunting for work in Singapore, or someone back home is counting on you to find them a way in, this is the scam to understand right now.
On 1 September, Singapore adds eight occupations to its Non-Traditional Sources list, opening more roles in food services, social services, and air transport to Filipino workers. More openings pull in more hopefuls, and the syndicates read the same news you do. They know a fresh crowd of applicants is about to start searching, and they are ready.
How the fake permit scam works
The pitch lands in your Messenger or TikTok inbox. A friendly "agent" offers a Singapore job with a good salary and a fast start date. There is one catch: you pay first. They call it a processing fee, a permit fee, or a reservation for your slot. You send the money to a personal GCash or bank account, and they mail back a printed approval letter that looks like it came from MOM.
It is a busy trade. From 2020 to 2026, the Department of Migrant Workers pulled 146,871 illegal recruitment posts off Facebook and another 57,557 off TikTok. On the Singapore side, MOM ran an island-wide operation on 31 March 2026 and arrested ten people over fraudulent work pass applications. Some employers had shared their Singpass logins with overseas agents to file passes for workers who did not exist.
The warning signs
Learn these five and you close the door on most of them:
They ask you to pay for the Work Permit itself. A real Singapore employer applies for your permit and pays the levy. You do not pay MOM for a Work Permit.
The money goes to a personal GCash number or a personal bank account, not a DMW-licensed agency.
The offer comes through a personal social media account with no company name, no office address, and no landline.
They rush you. Pay today or lose the slot. Urgency is the pressure that stops you from checking.
The approval letter has typos, a wrong logo, or a name that does not match your passport.
How to check a real offer
Slow down and verify before a single peso moves.
Only a DMW-licensed agency can deploy you as an OFW, so match the recruiter against the DMW list of licensed agencies. Ask for the In-Principle Approval letter, and once you hold a Work Permit number, check its status yourself through MOM's online Work Pass service rather than trusting a screenshot. Confirm the employer is real: a company registered with ACRA, a physical office, a phone that a person answers. And hold on to the rule that catches almost everything. In Singapore, the employer pays for your Work Permit. You should not.
If you already paid
Stop sending money the moment you doubt it. Screenshot everything first: the chats, the receipts, the fake letter, the account number you paid.
Report it on both sides. In the Philippines, file with the DMW and its anti-illegal-recruitment channels. In Singapore, reach the Migrant Workers Office and call the ScamShield helpline on 1799 to report to the police. Then tell your kababayan. Naming the account and the method out loud is what stops the next person from paying.
No honest employer in Singapore charges you for your own Work Permit. If someone asks you to pay for the permit, it is not a job. It is the scam.
