Vietnamese youth help Philippine police destroy fraud center

A Vietnamese victim who escaped from a Manila-based scam center helped Philippine authorities plan a crackdown, rescuing nearly 900 people from the facility.

Philippine police announced on March 14 that they had dismantled a ring that forced foreign workers to commit a series of online scams at a complex north of the capital Manila.

The 10-hectare complex, consisting of 36 office buildings and dormitories, is located in Bamban City, the operating area of online casino company Zun Yuan.

Winston Casio, spokesman for the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), said the operation to dismantle the scam ring was planned by police after receiving information from a young Vietnamese man who escaped from the complex.

A building inside a 10-hectare complex in Bamban, Philippines. Photo: Remate Online — Perspective of a building inside a 10-hectare complex in Bamban, Philippines. Photo: *Remate Online*

The 30-year-old arrived in the Philippines in January after being hired as a chef. But upon arriving at the complex, he soon found himself, along with hundreds of others, being trafficked into online sex and money scams.

They pretend to be high-income earners and send flirtatious messages to their victims, mostly Chinese, asking them how their day was and what they had just eaten. Those forced to do this scam also send their portraits to their victims to "advance the relationship".

Mr. Casio said that the operators of the scam center targeted people with attractive faces to recruit them into the network. After getting to know and flirting with the victims, they had to find a way to convince the victims to invest money in virtual platforms.

On February 28, a young Vietnamese man climbed over a wall and crossed a river to escape from the complex, seeking refuge at a farm. The farm owner later reported the incident to the police.

In early March, Mr. Casio visited the Vietnamese youth at the farm and found signs of torture, including scars and burns from electric shock. PAOCC took him to a “safe house” in Manila and opened an investigation. The identity of the man has not been released by Philippine authorities.

The Malaysian Embassy in Manila also provided PAOCC with information about a Malaysian citizen being detained and forced to work inside the complex. "The testimony of the Vietnamese youth and information from the Malaysian Embassy were the basis for the Philippines to launch a campaign to destroy the complex," said Mr. Casio.

Phone numbers suspected of being used in scams at a complex in Bamban, Philippines. Photo: PNA — Phones used in scams at a complex in Bamban, Philippines. Photo: *PNA*

The Philippine military and police then coordinated a raid on the complex, rescuing 432 Chinese citizens, 371 Filipinos, 57 Vietnamese, 8 Malaysians, 3 Taiwanese, 2 Indonesians and 2 Rwandans.

Workers said they were regularly threatened, beaten, deprived of sleep, and placed in solitary confinement if they did not carry out the scam or meet their quotas. They were controlled by having their passports confiscated. Some attempted to escape but were always recaptured.

Philippine police arrested eight suspects on charges of human trafficking and illegal detention, and confiscated many guns and ammunition in the complex.

Mr. Casio said the investigation was still in its early stages, as most of the rescued victims were “still shaken.” The Philippine Bureau of Immigration will investigate the immigration status of the victims. Those with work visas will have their visas revoked and they will be deported.

The PAOCC also asked authorities to revoke the online gambling license of Zun Yuan, one of 105 licensed online gambling service providers in the Philippines.

Workers inside a fraud center in a complex in Bamban. Photo: Inquirer — Workers inside a fraud center in a complex in Bamban. Photo: *Inquirer*

Officials will also assess the company’s assets. “This is a very large plot of land, 10 hectares, with 36 buildings ranging from three to seven stories high. The assets are really huge,” Mr. Casio said, noting that the March 14 raid was the largest ever in terms of land area and assets.

Smuggling centers are a major problem in Southeast Asia. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the scams are worth billions of dollars a year. The office estimates that hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are being held in Southeast Asia, forced to engage in fraudulent activities.

Last year, Philippine police arrested nearly 3,300 people in two large-scale raids on alleged scam hubs in the capital Manila.

Duc Trung (According to AFP, BBC, Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Rappler )

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