In this appeal, the three accused-appellants alleged that they neither recruited nor received any payment from any of the complainants. They denied even knowing the complainants before the filing of the case. They also maintained that the lower court erred in finding the existence of conspiracy, and qualifying the illegal recruitment to one committed by a syndicate or in large scale. The appeal lacks merit. Under the Labor Code, recruitment and placement refer to any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring or procuring workers, and includes referrals, contract services, promising or advertising for employment, locally or abroad, whether for profit or not: Provided, [t]hat any person or entity which, in any manner, offers or promises for a fee employment to two or more persons shall be deemed engaged in recruitment and placement.xxxiii[33] Recruitment for overseas employment is not in itself necessarily immoral or unlawful. It is the lack of the necessary license or permit, or the engagement of prohibited activities enumerated in the Labor Code that render such recruitment activities unlawful or criminal.xxxiv[34] Illegal recruitment is qualified into large scale recruitment when three or more persons are victimized. If such recruitment is carried out by a group of three (3) or more persons conspiring and/or confederating with one another in carrying out any unlawful or illegal transaction, enterprise or scheme, it becomes one committed by a syndicate. Illegal recruitment committed by a syndicate or in large scale amounts to an offense involving economic sabotage, punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00).xxxv[35] In this case, Lorna Guevarra and Josie Bea were neither licensed nor authorized by the Department of Labor and Employment and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to recruit workers for overseas employment.xxxvi[36] Pedro Bea Jr. had no such authority or license. Complainants in this case comprise five persons, or more than the minimum number of persons required by law to constitute illegal recruitment in large scale. The question now is whether or not appellants engaged in recruitment activities. Complainant Rizalina Belbes testified as follows: Q Do you remember having met this Lorna B. Guevarra prior to your departure from Kuala Lumpur? A From what I remember she first came to our house on August 23, 1993. xxx xxx xxx She started convincing me to work in Malaysia because she said she has job placements abroad.