Scam hub raided, ‘perps’ nabbed

Authorities busted an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered scam operation in a high-rise condominium in Mandaluyong City, arresting the Malaysian boss and 14 Filipino operators, officials said.

Operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR) raided the unit on a search warrant and found computers still running.

“They used two floors, the 7th floor and 8th floor unit,” said Police Lt. Col. John Guiagui, chief of the CIDG-NCR.

Guiagui said the suspects, who he described as running a “guerrilla-type, clandestine” operation, rarely left the building to avoid detection, with male and female workers living and eating inside the units.

The group is allegedly linked to a major syndicate in Cambodia and used sophisticated software for both love scams and investment scams.

The scam relied heavily on AI to deceive victims.

“They use AI, not a live female model. That’s what they use as a front on the camera to entice foreigners,” Guiagui explained. “They pretend to talk to them, and the victims send money. They then threaten to expose the person if they don’t send more money. That’s the scam they run here.”

The Filipino operators served as “spammers” and “customer service representatives,” with victims including both foreign nationals and Filipinos.

One suspect described their role.

“We send the model’s picture so the client believes we are a real woman. Once we get all of the client’s identity information, we hand it over to the CSR,” said the suspect.

Another arrested suspect said, “Once the spammer passes the potential victim to us, we have three days to win their trust. This is to determine if they are capable of investing in the fake platform we use.”

The suspects face charges for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act. The arrested Malaysian is set to be transferred to the Bureau of Immigration after authorities discovered the suspect’s travel documents had expired.