CLARK FREEPORT — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) revealed that love scams are often used by the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators(POGO) in the towns of Porac in Pampanga, and Bamban in Tarlac.

During a meeting with the Philippine National Police, the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of the Interior and Local Governmen, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Royce Hotel here on Saturday, the PAOCC revealed numerous love scam studios inside the said POGO hubs.

According to PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, these POGO hubs use a character package story to entrap men from the United States or Europe aged 35 years old and above who are single, separated or divorced, and have emotional problems.

“The scammer from the POGO would introduce herself as a person who came from a broken family who strived hard to become successful. The scammer would say that she studied in Singapore and went to Malaysia to start a new life,” Cruz said.

He added that there is a training room for these operators who are trained to create their own package stories to assume their own characters they would use to entrap victims, adding that these scammers would also send photos of them inside the studio showing various areas of her alleged house.

He said that these photos were taken inside the POGO hub that was set up to make the victims fall in love with the suspect, adding that once they are lured into the love scam, the scammers would then tell them to invest in cryptocurrencies.

The official cited that once the scammers cannot meet the quota given by the illegal POGO officials to them, that is when they are taken to the torture room where she is ordered to pay P150,000 to half a million peso for her to be released from employment.

During the meeting, the government agencies have approved of creating a task force against scam farms such as the POGO hubs in Porac and Bamban.