The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday announced the arrest of 17 Chinese nationals for scamming operations and one for bribing arresting officers.
In a press conference, NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the Cybercrime Division (NB-CCD) and Special Task Force (NBI-STF) received information on an ongoing scam hub in Casiana Residences, Parañaque City.
“After having concrete evidence, we immediately applied search warrants in four [condominium] units. Last night, they were able to arrest 17 Chinese while actually engaged in scamming activities and while they were here in headquarters, there was an offer by another Chinese for their release in exchange for P300,000 each,” Santiago said.
Surveillance operations revealed these units contained multiple workstations engaged in various fraudulent activities, including the theft of bank account information, fraudulent investment schemes, cryptocurrency scams, and illegal gambling operations.
The said nationals were discovered to be actively engaged with their desktop computers, wherein various scripts and communication flows indicative of a sophisticated scam and other fraudulent operations were found.
Further, onsite examinations on their devices uncovered a scheme that employed social engineering tactics to exploit victims where subjects initiated contact via platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram, posing as representatives of legitimate businesses or acquaintances.
Victims would be lured into making investments in cryptocurrency through deceptive “mining” or “farming” schemes upon establishing rapport and appealing to the victims’ emotions.
The subjects also utilized manipulated gambling sites designed to ensure users consistently lost, further enriching the syndicate.
The arrested Chinese nationals include Zhao Jianjun, Huang Cheng Chi, Huang Bi Ying, Li Hui Juan, Lengxin Yu, Liu Xing Rong, Chen Zihao, Zhou You Liang, Chen Xing, Chen Qing Gang, Huang Zhixon, Riu Chen, Mao Jing Hang, Liu Xuan Wu, Wang Wen Bin, Yan Xiao Hong, and Yang Yun.
They were nabbed for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.
