In a raid on a suspected online scam farm in Manila on Friday ( Jan 31 ), Philippine authorities detained around 100 people, according to reports that they had extorted victims.
The Makati financial city raid was a part of a crackdown against website crime syndicates that frequently operate under the pretense of gaming companies.
Agents from the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission ( PAOCC ) and the National Bureau of Investigation, armed with assault rifles, surrounded two offices of a lending agency and arrested the suspects as they worked side-by-side at computers.
The suspects, many of them young Filipinos, allegedly sought out victims via TikTok and other social media, offering collateral-free loans of up to 25, 000 pesos ( US$ 428 ).
At the scene, PAOCC producer Gilberto Cruz told investigators that those who fell behind on bills were harassed, humiliated, and threatened with having their personal details spread online. Borrowers were charged 35 percent regular curiosity, and those who fell behind on bills were also subject to this.
Cruz said,” Some of the people they harassed developed intellectual difficulties, people fell into despair, and there have even been some murder incidents that occurred because of the harassment these people perpetrated,” adding that” some of these people have actually experienced.”
According to him, the suspects may face charges of fraud and other hacking crimes as a result of the nation’s laws.
The raided business, Wewill Tech Corp, required patients to give personal information and family pictures, which the swindlers subsequently used for risks, according to Cruz.
According to him, some subjects of identical frauds have reported receiving funeral wreaths and tombs delivered to their homes.
Regulators are checking the owners ‘ nationality, Cruz said, adding that they have detained Chinese suspects who have previously been involved in similar activities.
According to him, the swindler plantation owners are thought to be relics of online gambling companies that were banned last year under President Ferdinand Marcos ‘ orders.
” Most of their keyboard staff are Filipino” and communicated with patients in the local dialect, Cruz told reporters.
What’s frightful about this is that Filipinos are defrauding and harassing their own Filipinos, he said.
Southeast Asia is considered to be “ground zero” of international deceiving operations, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Authorities claim that these activities are primarily conducted by Chinese-origin violence organizations.