MANILA — Filipinos aspiring to work in Italy should be careful not to fall victim to fraudulent immigration and recruitment schemes, the Consulate General of the Philippines in Milan warned Thursday.

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The consulate issued the advisory ahead of the scheduled submission of applications for work visas under the "decreto flussi" program of the Italian government.

The scheme would allow the hiring of as many as 452,000 foreign workers in the next three years.

“Kababayan should know that while the Philippines is among 30 countries covered by the decreto flussi program, there is no assurance that applications for work visas will be approved... Kababayan should also note that only employers who are issued an authorization to hire workers under this decree (Nulla Osta) can validly apply for a work visa for their potential workers,” Consul General Elmer Cato said in a statement.

The latest advisory comes in the wake of the controversy involving the same program where more than 200 Filipino job seekers in the Philippines were allegedly defrauded of as much as €3,000.00 each by a Milan-based immigration consulting firm.

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Cato said cases of aggravated fraud are expected to be filed against the firm by the Italian lawyer hired by the Department of Foreign Affairs to represent 100 complainants based in Italy who transacted with the agency on behalf of their relatives in the Philippines.

Filipinos who feel that they may have been victimized were urged get in touch with the Consulate through MWO at email: polomilan1@gmail.com or Whatsapp: +393756572333 and the ATN Section at email: atn.consolato.ph@gmail.com or WhatsApp: +39389683076.