Philippine authorities arrest more than 400 people in suspected cybercrime hub

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — More than 400 people, half of them from China, were arrested by Philippine authorities in a raid on a suspected online gambling and scam hub in a busy commercial district in the capital, officials said Thursday.

The 401 detained included 207 Chinese and 132 Vietnamese nationals who were arrested in a condo building in Pasay city on Wednesday night. They were suspected by Philippine authorities of involvement in illegal online gaming operations, along with cryptocurrency, romance and investment scams, according to a government report.

Other arrested suspects were from South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Madagascar, according to the report.

The scale of the arrests indicated how such lucrative online ventures have continued to thrive despite an order by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to law enforcers to shut them down by the end of last year.

Although a large number of online gambling outfits is believed to have relocated to other countries, including Cambodia and Myanmar, due to an ongoing crackdown in the Philippines, an unspecified number has remained in the country and ventured into an array of Internet-based scams.

There have been widespread speculation that Philippine law enforcement and regulatory officials have allowed illegal online gambling outfits to operate in the country in the past in exchange for huge bribes.

The latest raid “stemmed from a report from a concerned citizen who has been noticing the large number of foreign nationals in the said building,” the government report said.

Officials said 52 Filipinos who served as housekeeping staff and were not involved in the alleged offenses were also taken from the online hub, which was shut by the Pasay city government for operating without a business permit.

Authorities seized computers, bundles of SIM cards and other electronic equipment allegedly being used by the suspects to target customers outside the Philippines, officials said.

In the past, arrested suspects who played key roles in such online fraud were charged by Philippine authorities for human trafficking and cybercrimes. Other suspects, who were deemed to have been illegally recruited or tricked into working for such outfits, were deported en masse to their countries.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a 2023 report that criminal gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into participating in unlawful online scam operations, including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.

Such scams have become a major issue in Asia, with many of the workers trapped in virtual slavery and forced to participate in scams targeting people over the internet, including many in China, where gambling is prohibited.