100,000 unregistered sims seized in Las Piñas POGO hub raid
Published July 21, 2023 10:13pm
Over 100,000 unregistered sim cards were confiscated by the PNP Cybercrime Group during the June 2023 raid on an alleged Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Las Piñas, Emil Sumangil reported Friday on 24 Oras.
The sim cards were allegedly being used by online crime syndicates for several online scams, such as text spam blasts and online love scams.
Also confiscated were 10 multi-port GSM Modems, which are machines used for text-blasting or sending bulk messages to different recipients in one click.
“This is being operated like a call center,” National Telecommunications Security Council representative Ronnie Del Prado said.
“Mere possession of this is a violation. Ang dapat lang meron nito is mga TELCO,” PNP Anti Cybercrime Group Spokesperson Police Captain Michelle Sabino added.
The National Telecommunications Security Council was studying how to implement more strategies that stopped the spread of cybercrime in the country.
Meanwhile, authorities said two minors, a Malaysian and an Indonesian, were also rescued during the POGO hub raid.
The PNP-ACG also said that several Filipinos nabbed in the Las Piñas POGO hub, but were subsequently released, were re-arrested in a recent raid on a Cavite scam-hub.
Chinese fugitive among executives of raided POGO hub – PNP
Published Jul 17, 2023, 8:29:05 PM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 17) — Authorities identified another fugitive in the raid on a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Las Piñas City in June.
In a press briefing on Monday, Philippine National Police spokesperson PCol Jean Fajardo said the fugitive is among the five Chinese executives of Xinchuang Network Technology, Inc. which authorities searched based on a warrant.
“Yung pinaka-last po na na-discover po na pugante ay sa China. Ito po ay lumalabas na isa sa mga subject ng search warrant at tumatayo bilang big bosses sa Xinchuang company or dating Hongtai,” said Fajardo.
[Translation: The last fugitive discovered was from China. This person appears to be the subject of a search warrant and is one of the big bosses of the Xinchuang company, or formerly Hongtai.]
Investigations revealed that the person is from Fujian province and is the subject of a warrant of detention issued by the Public Security Bureau in China over charges of illegal business.
On July 5, 2023, the Anti Cybercrime Group turned over seven foreign nationals to the Bureau of Immigration’s Fugitive Special Unit.
After a thorough investigation and cross-referencing of identities with embassy records, it was determined that these fugitives were wanted in their respective countries for various serious crimes including contract fraud, drug trafficking, telecom fraud, and theft.
Meantime, authorities also discovered that two of the rescued victims from the June raid were minors.
One is a 17-year-old Indonesian and the other is a 17-year-old Malaysian.
To address the unique needs of the rescued minors, they are currently undergoing comprehensive processing under the care of a social worker from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the help of an interpreter.
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