Intelligence agents of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), backed by police commandos, raided an alleged scam hub in Parañaque City on Thursday morning, Aug. 22, and arrested 67 foreigners, including the alleged owners and supervisors, and 32 Filipinos.
NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr. said the operation stemmed from confirmed intelligence reports that an establishment in Baclaran is engaged in cryptocurrency investment and love scams by posing as a licensed Offshore-Gaming Operator.
“Investigation disclosed that the company utilizes their CSRs (customer service representatives) in fraudulently portraying a character such as a wealthy model who would entice prospect victims to invest in the manipulated cryptocurrency exchange/trading platform, with fraudulent intent,” the NCRPO report read.
Armed with a search warrant, NCRPO operatives swooped down on a building at the corner of San Pedro and J. Maceda streets at around 2 a.m. on Thursday and resulted in the arrest of a total of 99 people inside.
Among those arrested were Nan Shan, identified manager of the company; Detu Su, also identified owner of the company; and Wu Jian Bin, identified as supervisor of the company.
At the course of the operation, Nartatez said his men found adjacent rooms with similar set-up and it was found out that the occupants were employees of the same company.
“While conducting inquiries to them, the Filipino nationals manifested that they (CSRs) were forced to work as scammer, while the models were being forced to dress in a seductive manner and perform lascivious conduct which the CSRs will portray in order to lure their prospect victim,” said Nartatez.
Aside from the three company officials, also arrested were 56 more foreigners— 56 Chinese, two from Myanmar, a Malaysian, an Indonesian and a Vietnamese.
A total of 32 Filipinos were also collared.
Nartatez said charges of violations of Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, Securities Regulations Code of the Philippines are now being readied against the arrested suspects.