The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines, in collaboration with the military, launched a raid in Angeles City, Pampanga Province, successfully arresting 7 suspects involved in a large-scale online scam.
The target of the operation was a company located in the Salapungan area named "FXTM USDT Forex Trading," which upon thorough investigation was found to be "FMD Non-Voices Outsourcing Services," actually a cryptocurrency scam hub.
According to a statement released by the NBI, the scam group primarily targeted victims in the USA, the Middle East, and Europe. They used various online methods, including social engineering, romance scams, identity theft, phishing links, and malicious websites, to lure victims into investing on their platform to carry out the scam.
The successful raid was conducted after two months of meticulous monitoring and cyber investigation. At the scene, the NBI seized 85 desktop computers, 114 mobile phones, numerous SIM cards, and other devices, and also found documents containing sensitive information such as victims' personal information, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, emails, and passwords.
Currently, the 7 suspects have been arrested, and 4 others involved who were not present at the scene are still being pursued. These suspects will face multiple charges including computer fraud under the "2012 Cybercrime Prevention Act," and the law will deal with them severely.
