Woman arrested in Pasay over alleged ₱3.7-M cryptocurrency estafahand

A 40-year-old woman was arrested in Pasay City after a complainant carried out a citizen's arrest over her alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment scam that defrauded the victim of about ₱3.7 million, police said Thursday.

The Southern Police District (SPD) identified the suspect only by the alias "Glenn Yzabel," a Makati City resident. She is now under police custody and faces an inquest for estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code.

According to the Pasay City Police, the case stemmed from a transaction on July 22 along Roxas Boulevard, where the complainant transferred 60,000 USDT (Tether), a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar, to a digital wallet address provided by the suspect.

Police said the digital assets were worth about ₱3.7 million.

Investigators said the suspect allegedly claimed she did not receive the funds immediately after the transfer and insisted that the cryptocurrency sent by the complainant was "fake."

However, police said verification through peer-to-peer application records, customer support confirmation from the digital wallet service, and blockchain transaction tracking showed that the 60,000 USDT had been successfully received in the wallet linked to the suspect before being transferred to another digital wallet.

Authorities said the alleged scheme continued several days later.

On the night of July 28, the suspect allegedly met the complainant again and attempted to obtain an additional ₱200,000, claiming the amount was needed as a wallet "top-up" before the original funds could be released.

Realizing that the transaction was allegedly part of an ongoing fraud, the complainant apprehended the suspect through a citizen's arrest during the meeting and brought her to the Pasay City Police Sub-Station 1 at the CCP Complex at around 11:35 p.m. for formal turnover to authorities.

Southern Police District Director Brig. Gen. Glenn Oliver Cinco commended the complainant for acting promptly and praised responding Pasay police personnel for their immediate action.

Cinco also urged the public to exercise caution when engaging in high-value cryptocurrency transactions, warning that fraud involving digital assets remains a growing concern.

"The SPD will continue to strictly enforce the law against financial fraud and protect the public from schemes involving digital assets," he said.###