NBI raids Subic scam hub, over 200 Vietnamese detained

Law enforcement agents rounded up more than 200 Vietnamese nationals and launched a manhunt for a foreign operator during a Thursday night raid on a suspected transnational scam hub at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

Operatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) executed a search warrant issued by Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 73 on 22 October at the UPower Building 2 in Subic Gateway Park.

The joint operation involved the NBI Pampanga and Olongapo district offices, the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine National Police, and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

NBI director Melvin Matibag said Friday that authorities detained roughly 230 individuals — predominantly Vietnamese nationals along with a Filipina human resource manager — following a monthlong intelligence and surveillance investigation.

“We are working overtime in our fight against scam hubs and transnational online fraud,” Matibag said, adding that investigators are screening the workers to separate human trafficking victims from suspect operators.

Matibag said the bureau is pursuing the operation’s mastermind, described as a Chinese-Vietnamese national using a Filipino alias, in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration.

Authorities seized desktop computers, laptops, cellphones, SIM cards, card scanners, and digital storage media used to execute investment scams, online gambling fraud, and cyber-enabled financial crimes targeting victims in the Philippines, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Thailand and Vietnam.

Investigators disclosed that the hub operated on 24-hour shifts and may have functioned as an organized troll farm targeting local online platforms.

“You will notice many Vietnamese names among comments in social media posts,” Matibag noted, confirming that the bureau is analyzing chat logs, social media profiles, and e-wallet accounts.

The NBI is coordinating with the Anti-Money Laundering Council to trace and freeze financial accounts associated with the facility. Suspected ringleaders face charges under the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, the Cybercrime Prevention Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The NBI is working alongside the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, the Bureau of Immigration, and the Embassy of Vietnam regarding the custody, processing and eventual repatriation of the foreign nationals.