About 400 foreigners in Philippines arrested for online scams
About 400 foreigners in the Philippines were arrested on Wednesday in a large-scale raid on a suspected online scam farm in Manila.
Online scammers target millions of victims around the world and rake in annual revenues of $64 billion. Photo courtesy of tribuneonlineng.com.
The country’s Bureau of Immigration announced that authorities raided a building and found workers allegedly involved in online scam operations targeting victims abroad.
According to the agency, many of the arrested were Chinese. They will be temporarily detained while awaiting deportation.
In recent years, the international community has raised concern over increasing scam operations in Asia.
The Washington-based think-tank United States Institute of Peace said in a May 2024 report that online scammers target millions of victims around the world and rake in annual revenues of $64 billion.
Notably, staff of the scam operations are usually trafficking victims who were tricked or coerced into promoting bogus cryptocurrency investments and other cons.
It estimates the industry employs half a million workers, including 15,000 in the Philippines, who were recruited mainly via social media and were then forced to carry out scams, facing torture if they fail to meet quotas.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in July 2024 announced a ban on Philippine online gaming operators (POGO) that Manila says have been used as cover by organized crime groups for human trafficking, money laundering, online fraud, kidnappings and even murder.
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