Taiwanese nationals collared over Cebu romance scam

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Sunday its Cybercrime Division-Special Task Force based in Manila arrested 17 Taiwanese fugitives, including one woman, in a high-end subdivision in Cebu City on Saturday.

Reports said that the individuals were allegedly involved in conducting romance scams.

Ranier dela Cruz of the NBI Special Task Force disclosed that six of those arrested were identified as members of the Four Seas Gang in Taiwan and had outstanding warrants of arrest in their home country.

According to Dela Cruz, these six fugitives face charges in Taiwan related to drugs, money laundering and financial conversion. He added that the NBI coordinated with the Taiwan Police to expedite the operation.

During the raid, the NBI discovered computers allegedly used to run a “romance scam” targeting Taiwanese nationals, employing scripts and prepared dialogues to deceive victims.

Taiwan Police Attache’ Matt Shen thanked the NBI for their swift action, stating that in Taiwan, the average weekly loss to scams over the past year has reached 1 billion New Taiwan dollars, equivalent to P1.7 billion.

He stressed that the NBI’s prompt response prevented potential harm to more victims.

Meantime, lawyer Van Angluben, executive director of the NBI Cybercrime Division, said the operation originated in Manila after one of the suspects was tracked down booking a flight to Cebu. Local intelligence counterparts were then engaged, leading to the discovery of the operation’s relocation to Cebu.

“Once we establish that there is an organized syndicate involving these Taiwanese nationals, as well as some of our fellow Filipinos, we will also be filing charges,” Angluben said.

NBI agents are considering the fugitives as potentially linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs). Angluben cited that authorities are still investigating why these foreign nationals remain in the Philippines despite previous instructions for them to leave by 31 December 2024.

The arrested individuals face charges including computer-related forgery under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and social engineering schemes under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.

The 17 Taiwanese nationals are currently detained at the NBI Central Visayas Regional Office.