Finally, the government is investigating them.

[Sanitough]

DICT investigating viral 'scam hub' in Cebu

The video, which now has more than 1.7 million views on YouTube as of posting, showed CCTV footage and audio recordings inside the alleged scam hub manned by Filipinos.

The Filipinos were allegedly targeting foreign nationals from South Africa.

It also showed how they operated by allegedly extorting people in an investment scam through a fake website.

DICT spokesperson Assistant Secretary Renato Paraiso said in a press conference that they have the profiles and information of some of the individuals who were caught on the said video, which was uploaded under the username "mrwn".

I saw this first on the news shared by @Oasisman

And if you want to watch  the video, you can check on this link - Scammers PANIC After Getting Hacked Live On CCTV!

This isn't a usual scam accusations that are brought here that involves casinos, this is a massive scamming targeting people to invest in a HYIP (scams).. and i can't believe they had a hub in the Philippines, good thing this white hat hackers were able to expose them. And now, since the government is already involve, they should be put in jail.

Check the video as its stated in their on the countries of the scammers are targetting.

(@ mods, kindly move the thread if this does not fit here).

[Bitcoin_Arena]

This isn't a usual scam accusations that are brought here that involves casinos, this is a massive scamming targeting people to invest in a HYIP (scams).. and i can't believe they had a hub in the Philippines, good thing this white hat hackers were able to expose them.

It's a lucrative venture for the lazy minds, so expect hubs or something like that. Have you watched a movie called “the beekeeper”? I know it was just a movie, but it gives a glimpse on what happens in the world of scam.

I have watched several Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok videos of certain individuals exposing scammers from India and Nigeria after hacking into their live cams. Most of the time, it's hilarious.  

[Sanitough]

This isn't a usual scam accusations that are brought here that involves casinos, this is a massive scamming targeting people to invest in a HYIP (scams).. and i can't believe they had a hub in the Philippines, good thing this white hat hackers were able to expose them.

It's a lucrative venture for the lazy minds, so expect hubs or something like that. Have you watched a movie called “the beekeeper”? I know it was just a movie, but it gives a glimpse on what happens in the world of scam.

I have watched several Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok videos of certain individuals exposing scammers from India and Nigeria after hacking into their live cams. Most of the time, it's hilarious.  

Beekeeper is one of my favorite movies. I just wish we had our own Jason Statham here in the Philippines, someone who’d burn it all down and go after the real masterminds behind these scams.

These people are clearly preying on the vulnerable. In the video, you can see a female agent calling a struggling guy, convincing him to “invest” to fix his financial problems, but in reality, it’s only going to make things worse.

[Shishir99]

There are hundreds of scam call center offices that are operated in India (especially in Mumbai and Kolkata). They have been reported hundreds of times to the local police. The police and the Indian government never took serious action against those call centers. https://www.youtube.com/@KitbogaShow/videos (Kitboga) and https://www.youtube.com/@Scambaiter/videos (Scam Baiter) have been exposing them for a couple of years now, and no real action from the Indian government.

I feel like the indian government thinks it is good that those indian scammers are earning remittence for their country. No matter how it comes. They are happy about it. LOL. At least good to see that this is not the case in the Philippines. I hope these scammers get a good punishment.

[Bitcoin Smith]

There are hundreds of scam call center offices that are operated in India (especially in Mumbai and Kolkata). They have been reported hundreds of times to the local police. The police and the Indian government never took serious action against those call centers. https://www.youtube.com/@KitbogaShow/videos (Kitboga) and https://www.youtube.com/@Scambaiter/videos (Scam Baiter) have been exposing them for a couple of years now, and no real action from the Indian government.

I feel like the indian government thinks it is good that those indian scammers are earning remittence for their country. No matter how it comes. They are happy about it. LOL. At least good to see that this is not the case in the Philippines. I hope these scammers get a good punishment.

There's even a whole district which is known as cyber crime hub of India and it's unbreakable until now but there's always ongoing investigations and seizing funds involved from fraudulent activities. It's more complicated because there's whole infrastructure is operating to keep them in active while avoiding the legal actions and since they are mostly targeting the oversees people Indian government can't legally take any actions because there is no compliant from a party most of the time.

There was an interesting story that they even ran a fake IPL tournament to deceive Russian betters a couple of years back.

Well, We can talk about the most modern scam hub of World 'Dubai', yet they can't stop the pig butchering.

[acroman08]

I've been trying to watch the YouTube video since last night, but couldn't because it says "This content is not available on this country domain due to a defamation complaint." and I thought it had been taken down, it never occurred to me to use a VPN. also it's weird that the video is restricted to the country where it happened.

Anyway, I heard that the police already raided their workplace and closed it down, and they will now do an investigation and how these people were able to operate with permits. So far, I think no arrests have been made.

[nutildah]

There's already a ton of memes about this, lol. I watched the whole video a few days ago. What makes it different from your average scam call center is that:

1) It is in the Philippines as opposed to India or Pakistan.
2) The scam targets countries other than the US or UK.
3) It is for a Bitcoin-related investment "opportunity" instead of something related to customer service for Amazon, AT&T, or what have you.

It's a perfectly well executed plan for a video & had the fortunate effect of getting the call center shut down. Makes me wonder how many other scam call centers are in the IT Park in Cebu.


OP just for future reference, its good to put some information in the subject title that helps identify what it is the thread is about.

[Shishir99]

There's even a whole district which is known as cyber crime hub of India and it's unbreakable until now but there's always ongoing investigations and seizing funds involved from fraudulent activities. It's more complicated because there's whole infrastructure is operating to keep them in active while avoiding the legal actions and since they are mostly targeting the oversees people Indian government can't legally take any actions because there is no compliant from a party most of the time.

Interesting. Do they really need complaints from the victims to shut down these scam call centers? Once it is confirmed that the criminals are scamming people and it is known, why do they need complaints from the victims? It is like the government and police know who blasted a bomb there, but since no victims complained, they did not take any action against the criminals. This is insane.

Dubai's failure is their responsibility, and they should be ashamed of this. However, I don't remember seeing many scammers from Dubai, but I have seen many scammers from India and Africa. The scammers are one of the reasons why people use slang against Indians, and I am sure you know that.

[Koadharber]

This isn't a usual scam accusations that are brought here that involves casinos, this is a massive scamming targeting people to invest in a HYIP (scams).. and i can't believe they had a hub in the Philippines, good thing this white hat hackers were able to expose them.

It's a lucrative venture for the lazy minds, so expect hubs or something like that. Have you watched a movie called “the beekeeper”? I know it was just a movie, but it gives a glimpse on what happens in the world of scam.

I have watched several Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok videos of certain individuals exposing scammers from India and Nigeria after hacking into their live cams. Most of the time, it's hilarious.  

Beekeeper is one of my favorite movies. I just wish we had our own Jason Statham here in the Philippines, someone who’d burn it all down and go after the real masterminds behind these scams.

These people are clearly preying on the vulnerable. In the video, you can see a female agent calling a struggling guy, convincing him to “invest” to fix his financial problems, but in reality, it’s only going to make things worse.

I do also watched out that movie and its a good one. I am waiting for that Beekeeper 2 on which its been said that it would be launched this year. Going back into the topic then its just that on similar case.
These scammers are that very common usually Indian nationals are that very rampant into this kind of doing. Now we've seen that people on Philippines are doing too. Well, there's no exemption on what nationality and pretty sure that there are indeed in some places. It did just turned out that they havent been caught yet. I have seen up the video and it is just that sad that the authorities did only just react or made out a raid when the video had gone viral on which of course these scammers had already hide themselves. That scam buster youtuber did made out some report to the police or government but ended up on getting rejected or ignored which is just that very sad.

[Russlenat]

This discovery might just be the tip of the iceberg. I believe this isn't the only call center involved in scams. If the government doesn't take action soon, it could seriously damage the Philippines' reputation.

Scammers are clearly drawn here because of cheap labor, and honestly, the government should’ve seen that coming. It’s pretty unbelievable that an anonymous hacker was the first to expose this, ahead of our own authorities.

And it really makes you question the capability of our law enforcement, especially when it comes to cybercrime. I mean, even official government websites have been hacked before. That says a lot.

[nutildah]

Scammers are clearly drawn here because of cheap labor, and honestly, the government should’ve seen that coming. It’s pretty unbelievable that an anonymous hacker was the first to expose this, ahead of our own authorities.

In the video, the guy (video creator) says that people had been trying to contact authorities about it but never received any sort of response. It was only after the video obtained the popularity that it did that the authorities decided to intervene.

Also, its not just the cheap labor but the fact that the accent is different from the normal Indian scammer accent. Makes them seem less scammer-y I suppose.

[xLays]

Also, its not just the cheap labor but the fact that the accent is different from the normal Indian scammer accent. Makes them seem less scammer-y I suppose.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Funnymemes/comments/1bf8ea4/indians/#lightbox

I'm sure you've already seen this meme or come across it. It went viral on facebook. Just posting it here since I think it's related to the topic. lol

I've already watched this video too. We also can't really blame the Philippine authorities for not conducting operation or arresting them right away because we have what's called due process. They can't just rely on what they see online they need to conduct their own investigation, of course.
Just like in India, if no one is reporting it, our police here in the Philippines won’t take action either.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Interesting. Do they really need complaints from the victims to shut down these scam call centers? Once it is confirmed that the criminals are scamming people and it is known, why do they need complaints from the victims? It is like the government and police know who blasted a bomb there, but since no victims complained, they did not take any action against the criminals. This is insane.

Yes, someone who is affected need to make a complaint for police to take action this might looks absurd but that's how the law works not what we see in the movies.

And this is a crime happening in the digital world so there won't be any physical evidence even if there's some kind of raid based on suspicion so to have a full scale investigation that needs proper reasoning and government is also trying to stop their activities but it's so easy to hide in India and they are also switching their locations often which makes it more harder because different states have different police departments and one state police can't just go an investigate if it's not their jurisdiction so it requires proper approval from both state governments as well as the police departments and we all know how fast the file moves in government tables.

Dubai's failure is their responsibility, and they should be ashamed of this. However, I don't remember seeing many scammers from Dubai, but I have seen many scammers from India and Africa. The scammers are one of the reasons why people use slang against Indians, and I am sure you know that.

I don't have too much knowledge but a couple of years back Indian government secured few citizens who were enslaved in UAE for pig butchering task by giving fake claims that it is an IT related job while interviewing them and not many governments can't even reach that spot knowing it's happening because it's highly organized and you will be amazed if you look at the numbers.

[Russlenat]

Scammers are clearly drawn here because of cheap labor, and honestly, the government should’ve seen that coming. It’s pretty unbelievable that an anonymous hacker was the first to expose this, ahead of our own authorities.

In the video, the guy (video creator) says that people had been trying to contact authorities about it but never received any sort of response. It was only after the video obtained the popularity that it did that the authorities decided to intervene.

Man, you already know how law enforcement works in the Philippines - especially in Cebu, which I honestly think is one of the most corrupt places in the country.

Most likely, these scammers have people on the inside who are getting paid off, that’s why they’re not getting raided. Online scams like these are easy to expose, especially since the workers aren’t even being held like prisoners, unlike those POGO setups. These guys operate like regular call center agents, they come and go freely.

If that hacker didn’t expose them, the authorities would’ve just stayed quiet. But now that it’s all over the news, they have no choice but to act. It’s what we call “laglagan na” in Filipino, everyone starts turning on each other.

Also, its not just the cheap labor but the fact that the accent is different from the normal Indian scammer accent. Makes them seem less scammer-y I suppose.

I agree with that. Filipino call center agents really do have better accents, and honestly, the cheap labor might just be a bonus—because these operations are clearly making a lot of money.

There was even a spreadsheet shown by the hacker that detailed the total scam amount. IIRC, it reached almost $1 million per year. That’s a huge profit for something running under the radar.

That “Adam” guy seems to be the mastermind. Makes you wonder who he really is and where he’s hiding now.

[nutildah]

And I do love a good scambaiting video. Some of my faves are Kitboga (of course), ScammerRevolts, ScammerPayback, Jim Browning, and deeveear. All are worth watching for the pure comedy of watching scammer meltdowns. I don't get scam calls anymore, but watching the setup, the reverse connection through AnyDesk or something similar, and the hacking of the scammer computer, its a work of art.

That “Adam” guy seems to be the mastermind. Makes you wonder who he really is and where he’s hiding now.

The video inferred he was based in Israel, although its hard to say for sure. One thing is he'll likely be the only person not eventually identified in that video. Everyone is is screwed, especially her 

[blockman]

Sadly, mrwn probably had kept the video private or it was reported by the armies of these scammers led by "Adam".

Man, you already know how law enforcement works in the Philippines - especially in Cebu, which I honestly think is one of the most corrupt places in the country.

Well, it's sad to accept that fact but it's not only in Cebu but in almost every part of our country. As long as the owners of these scam hubs are putting money under the table, they will be out of their radar. It's nice that there were concerned citizens that have emailed mrwn and probably other white hat hackers content creators/scam busters to exposed these people.

She's "basically" a local in Abuja, she said. And she really smak the plo with her dance steps on their new office. What a talented woman, can sing and dance while doing some office calls.  
*Pun intended*

[hugeblack]

Apparently, the government has granted licenses to these centers, which has helped them a lot in fraud and gaining the trust of customers, but personally, I would prefer to stay away from any project that gives you guaranteed profits, no matter how low the promises are (not to mention 100% profits).

[Shishir99]

Yes, someone who is affected need to make a complaint for police to take action this might looks absurd but that's how the law works not what we see in the movies.

Once again, let's say a bomb blasts in a tourist spot in India, let's say it happened in Sikkim, and ten tourists died. Is it mandatory for the foreign family to come to India and complain against the criminal so the police can start taking action? But we often see that police file a case by themself against the criminals. Why not against the scammers? The truth is corruption.

In most cases, the police know who and where they are operating their scam business. But as long as they are getting commission from those business, police won't take any action. The is the problem all over the world, not just India. Especially in 3rd world countries including mine.

[Oasisman]

Scammers are clearly drawn here because of cheap labor, and honestly, the government should’ve seen that coming. It’s pretty unbelievable that an anonymous hacker was the first to expose this, ahead of our own authorities.

In the video, the guy (video creator) says that people had been trying to contact authorities about it but never received any sort of response. It was only after the video obtained the popularity that it did that the authorities decided to intervene.

Also, its not just the cheap labor but the fact that the accent is different from the normal Indian scammer accent. Makes them seem less scammer-y I suppose.

I think the americans are pretty aware with Indian accent being a potential scammer when answering a phone call. Especially, when the call is an inbound call from some a sketchy company. I think Canada is also aware. I don't know about the people from Europe and Nigeria if they are aware as well. These were the countries they're targeting most recently.
That smack that girl's accent is pretty much below average compared to most of the call center agents in PH. There are a lot of agents who has a good american accent and the communication skills that are far more convincing, but I guess they are smart enough not to get involved with a scam company such as this.

On the other note, about the authorities in PH. They don't usually take actions to complaints when there are no proper report filed or complainant. They don't even try to lift a finger to try to find out if the initial report was true. However, these are just one of their many excuses not to take appropriate actions and do their job. As we all can see, they immediately took actions after the video went viral. Now, the question is, who was the complainant this time? lol.

[Russlenat]

smak that plo.

Apparently, the government has granted licenses to these centers, which has helped them a lot in fraud and gaining the trust of customers, but personally, I would prefer to stay away from any project that gives you guaranteed profits, no matter how low the promises are (not to mention 100% profits).

The government doesn’t really do a full investigation before giving out permits. As long as you pay the fees, you’re good to go, that’s how loose the law enforcement is here in the Philippines.

If you’re familiar with POGOs, they’re supposed to be regulated by PAGCOR, a government agency. But the regulations are pretty basic. They don’t really check if these companies are doing what they claimed in their applications.

So honestly, I’m not surprised we’re seeing these scammy call centers popping up. And if authorities dig deeper, I bet there are a lot more out there waiting to be exposed.