Staff from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines arrested 5 foreigners and 24 Filipinos in Kawit, who were suspected of participating in various types of scams.
At a press conference on Tuesday (August 13), NBI Director Jaime Santiago stated that the NBI's Cybercrime Division caught these foreigners, including three Chinese and two Malaysians, and Filipinos in a sector of Kawit.
"These 24 Filipinos collaborated with them in executing romance scams, investment scams, cryptocurrency scams, impersonation scams, and voucher interceptions. They were supervised by these foreigners," said Santiago.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Lotoc, the Chief Prosecutor of the NBI’s Cybercrime Division, indicated that this is a splinter group from a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) center.
He explained that the gang no longer operates in offices but has moved to residential units.
They come from different sectors, from different places, and their departmental division is purposed to evade detection by law enforcement.
They have an administrative department, an operations department, and a finance and money laundering department. You can see that those we arrested last week through entrapment were more involved in financial and money laundering activities. This time, it was purely the operations department.
Lotoc also believes the gang still has a "big boss". He refused to reveal more details, stating that further actions by the NBI are ongoing.
Lotoc mentioned that they also discovered a "scam showroom" filled with high-end products and luxury goods to create an illusion for the victims.
This is what attracts our countrymen and other foreign victims, as they believe the people they are interacting with can make them wealthy.
In this operation, the NBI recovered pre-registered SIM cards, GCash accounts, computers, devices containing scripts, mobile phones, and textplus machines, etc.
The arrested individuals were charged under the Anti-Financial Account Fraud Act (AFASA). Lotoc also called on the public to stop partaking in such scams.
"We are sending a message to our countrymen, to avoid getting involved in these activities. There are many good, clean jobs out there that won't bring you trouble."
Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has ordered the prohibition of all POGOs in the country by the end of the year.
