Alleged cybercrime hub raided in Pasay; around 650 held including foreigners

Authorities conducted a raid in an establishment in Pasay City on Tuesday evening over alleged cyber scams and held around 650 persons of interest including foreign nationals.

According to a report of Darlene Cay on Unang Balita on Wednesday, the persons of interest include over 400 Filipinos while the rest are Chinese and Indian nationals.

Authorities also found hundreds of phones, computers, SIM cards, and other devices as they implemented a search warrant on the five-storey building.

Papers with supposed scripts for love scams and devices for text blasts were also seen in the area.

Conversations between victims—mostly white foreigners—and alleged scammers were still accessible on the screen of some computers at the time of the raid.

Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Felix Ty said the hub was allegedly running love scams and cryptocurrency scams.

“Kadalasan naman sa ganitong operation, meron tayong asset sa loob at 'yung asset sa loob ay ginawa nating lead for the intel that we can gather,”  Ty said.

(Usually with these kinds of operations, we have an asset inside and that asset is our lead for the intelligence that we can gather.)

“Nag-build up na lang 'yung ating mga law enforcement (Our law enforcement just builds it up) to secure the evidence needed to produce a search warrant,” he added.

According to him, authorities are still identifying the leaders of the illegal activity but they suspect that Chinese nationals are running it.

The company is registered and has a license as a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) but it was just allegedly a front to cover its scam operations.

Authorities are still making an inventory and gathering details about the persons of interest found in the establishment.

They are also looking into how the scammers can still operate despite the implementation of the SIM registration law. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA Integrated News