CEBU CITY – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested a group of Taiwanese for their alleged involvement in scamming activities.
The suspects, 16 males and one female, were arrested in their makeshift office in a subdivision here on Thursday, May 15.
Six of them have standing arrest warrants in their country, the NBI said.
"Their victims are also Taiwanese nationals," said NBI-Special Task Force Agent Ranier dela Cruz.
The NBI said the suspects belonged to the Four Seas Gang, a criminal group based in Taiwan.
The operation was launched based on the request of the Naval Intelligence and Security Group (NISG).
"We discovered notes, applications, scripts that they used to lure victims," said Dela Cruz.
Authorities were able to track down the suspects when one of them who had an outstanding arrest warrant booked a flight from Manila to Cebu.
Seized during the operation were 17 computers, 23 mobile phones, and two crypto wallets.
Matt Shen, Taiwan police attaché, welcomed the arrest of the suspects.
He said that over the past years, Taiwan is losing one million New Taiwan dollars or P1 billion a week due to scamming activities.
"NBI's swift response prevented further harm to potential victims. I deeply admire NBI's commitment and effort," Shen said.
The NBI said the suspects will face charges for computer-related forgery under the Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act, social engineering schemes, and economic sabotage.