In the early hours of August 22, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in the Philippines, guided by intelligence officers, conducted a raid on a suspected scam center in Parañaque City, successfully arresting 67 foreign nationals including 3 corporate executives and 32 Filipino employees.
NCRPO Chief Jose Melencio Nartatez pointed out that the operation was based on solid intelligence reports, which revealed that the company located in the Baclaran area was masquerading as a legitimate offshore gaming operator (POGO), but was actually engaged in cryptocurrency investment scams and romance scams among other illegal activities.
NCRPO detailed in the report: "Investigations revealed that the company used its customer service to impersonate wealthy models and other fictitious identities, luring potential victims to invest in a meticulously designed fake cryptocurrency trading platform, achieving fraudulent purposes."
The operation started around 2 AM on Thursday, with NCRPO agents holding search warrants, quickly surrounding and raiding a building at the intersection of San Pedro Street and J. Maceda Street, controlling and arresting all personnel present on the spot.
Among those arrested, company manager Nan Shan, owner Detu Su, and supervisor Wu Jian Bin could not escape the law. Additionally, there were foreign suspects from multiple countries, including 56 Chinese, 2 Burmese, 1 Malaysian, 1 Indonesian, and 1 Vietnamese.
During the interrogation, Filipino employees revealed that they were forced to participate in scam activities, and some models were required to dress provocatively and perform indecent acts for customer service to imitate, thereby increasing the allure to victims.
Nartatez stated that preparations are actively underway to charge all arrested suspects with violations of the 2012 Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Philippine Securities Regulation Code, among other relevant laws.
