Six Chinese nationals have been arrested in Pampanga for their alleged involvement in cyber-related scams, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday, August 16.
In a statement, the NBI identified those arrested as Xiaojun Wang, Xue Feng Zhang, Ke Xin Ge, Die Liu, Yu Jie Wang, and Hong Hong Zhu.
It said the suspected scammers were arrested last Wednesday, August 14, in Angeles City, Pampanga by joint operatives of the NBI Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD) and the NBI Technical Intelligence Division (NBI-TID) during the service of an arrest warrant against Chinese national Zhangxiao Feng who is facing before the Paranaque City Regional Court (RTC) Branch 296 charges of qualified trafficking in persons.
“Unfortunately, Zhangxiao Feng was not in the premises during the implementation of the warrant. However, operatives were astounded by the office set up as there were various desktop computers, cellular phones, sim cards, several scripts, and customer ledgers,” said the NBI..
"Controlled viewing and examination on the desktops’ interface revealed the romance scam scripts, messaging applications with fictitious accounts, bank accounts, and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms, suggesting that the individuals using these devices are engaged in fraudulent activities globally," it also said.
It explained “these scripts and tools are used in scamming activities such as catfishing scams, credit card scams, cryptocurrency scams, and fake investment scams, among others.”
Following their arrest, the NBI said the six arrested Chinese were presented for inquest before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for computer-related forgery under Republic Act (RA) No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012; social engineering schemes under Section 4(b)(1); and economic sabotage under Section 4(c)(1) of RA No. 12010, the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act) in relation to RA No. 10175.
It added that the operation was hatched at the request of the Naval Intelligence and Security Group (NISG) following reports that Zhangxiao Feng was at the D Heights Resort Golf and Country Club.