The police are tracking what officials described as a growing “guerrilla-style” black market for illegal text blasters allegedly recycled from shuttered Philippine offshore gaming operators.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered intensified operations after recent arrests in Parañaque City and Cavite involving the sale of GSM-based text blasting equipment online.
Police said the devices, once widely used inside Chinese-dominated POGO gaming hubs, are now being broken up and sold individually through e-commerce sites and social media platforms.
“While we have seen a decline in centralized scam hubs since the 2024 POGO ban, we are now facing a guerrilla-style distribution,” Nartatez said.
The PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group recently arrested three suspects accused of selling portable text-blasting machines capable of bypassing normal telecommunications security systems.
In Parañaque, two suspects allegedly sold three 32-port units for P40,000 each. Another suspect in Cavite was accused of selling two 32-slot 4G devices for P20,000 apiece.
Investigators said some sellers were former POGO workers who allegedly kept the equipment after the industry’s closure.
Authorities warned that the devices are frequently used in smishing and phishing attacks because they operate as portable cell sites capable of forcing nearby phones to receive fraudulent messages.
Police said cyber patrols and surveillance of online marketplaces have been expanded in coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission.
The devices had also been used in the past for clandestine, targeted election campaigning.