With POGOs out, 'guerilla scam ops' now emerging, says Hontiveros

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday bared the “alarming” rise of "guerilla scam operations" following the government’s ban on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country. 

Hontiveros raised this during the Senate plenary deliberations on the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Information and Communications and Technology (DICT). 

“Following the welcome declaration of the President banning POGOs, our law enforcement officers have found an alarming trend that, instead of using POGOs as regulatory cover, guerilla scam operations are now emerging—perhaps even harder to detect,” she said. 

She then sought to know how this is being addressed by the Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center (CICC).

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who sponsored the DICT’s proposed spending plan next year, said the CICC “has managed to apprehend 11 scam hubs—both illegal and legal.” 

“This is in cooperation with various law enforcement agencies, such as the PNP and NBI. They have the technology to also detect scam hubs in the country, and they also have a hotline that people can call and report this type of scamming operation,” he added. 

Gatchalian said the DICT hopes to discuss its methodology particularly the type of technology used to detect scam hubs, in an executive session. 

Following a Senate probe unearthing criminal activities linked to the POGOs, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered their ban during his third State of the Nation address in July. 

Asked about the CICC’s efforts to crack down on text scams pretending to be banks and e-wallet applications, Gatchalian said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has instructed telcos “to be very strict” in issuing SIM cards. 

Citing NTC data as of September 2024, Gatchalian said the agency has blocked 2.22 billion SMS; deactivated 2.31 million SIM; and blacklisted 10.79 million numbers.

“The NTC is also doing its share to make sure that the type of text blasts or spams, as we call it, are being reduced. But admittedly, there’s much to be done,” Gatchalian added. 

The senator observed the new scheme of scammers making “anonymous texts offering properties for sale."   He said these appeared to have replaced the spurious text messages offering jobs.—LDF, GMA Integrated News