SEC Warns of Fake Shopwise Job Scam Targeting Filipinos
Fraudsters are impersonating Shopwise Inc. on Facebook with fake part-time job offers that require victims to invest $2.12 upfront. The Securities and Exchange Commission warns the bogus platform has no connection to the registered retailer and lacks authority to solicit investments.
Key Takeaway
Task-and-recharge scams use early withdrawals to build trust before locking victims into deposit cycles.
A fake job platform claiming to be Shopwise is recruiting victims through Facebook with promises of easy earnings.
The Securities and Exchange Commission warned the public that the bogus entity has no connection to the registered retailer Shopwise Inc. The fraudulent Shopwise Online Work Platform has not registered as a corporation or partnership and lacks the necessary authority to solicit investments from the public.
The scam works by offering part-time work that pays between $5.71 and ₱716.25 ($11.61) per task for "grabbing product orders." Victims must first invest $2.12 as initial capital to register and set up a digital wallet. Early participants are allowed to withdraw small earnings to build trust before being required to deposit more funds to access their remaining balances — a classic trust-and-trap pattern seen across task-based investment fraud schemes.
These so-called tasking scams have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years, often using the names of legitimate retailers or e-commerce platforms to appear credible during recruitment. Anyone who has invested money through the fake Shopwise platform or knows someone who has can file a complaint with the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department, which published its advisory on May 4, 2026.
🇵🇭 Filipino Impact
Filipino crypto users are frequent targets of task-based investment scams that recruit via Facebook and Telegram — platforms where Philippine crypto communities are most active. The SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department is the primary channel for reporting these schemes, which often impersonate local brands to bypass trust barriers.
This article was written based on reporting from Fintechnews.
