Senate Hearing Reveals Presence Of Scam Call Centers In PH: 'Right Under Our Noses'

"Scam call centers" run by cryptocurrency syndicates are operating in the country, Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed during a hearing by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality on Wednesday.

The lawmaker said victims of human trafficking "in the hundreds, and perhaps even in the thousands" and are reportedly from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and nations in Africa and South Asia.

While scam hubs in Cambodia and Myanmar are found in remote provinces, Hontiveros said such sites are situated in Manila with one of them located near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

"Sadly, right under our very noses, the Philippines is hosting its very own scam hubs. Large condominium buildings are being repurposed as living and working facilities for trafficked human beings forced to perform scams on hapless victims," Hontiveros said in this report.

In the hearing, an Indonesian national with the alias "Ridwan" shared his experience about getting tricked into working for the scam syndicate after seeing an advertisement for a digital marketing job posted on Facebook in January.

According to Ridwan, he and two other Indonesians arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 7 and was met by an escort who helped them pass seamlessly through the Bureau of Quarantine and the Philippine immigration counters. A driver brought them to Bayport West NAIA Garden Residences in Pasay City. He said the workers' sleeping quarters are in the condominium's Tower 5 while the next tower is their place of work.

"We were instructed to steal the identities of other people to scam targets. Our targets are our fellow Indonesians. We find them on Tinder, Facebook, and Instagram. After our targets fall in love with us, we make them invest in cryptocurrency. When we do not get victims, we will get punished," Ridwan told the committee.

The Indonesian national said that while the illegal firm promised to pay them P80,000 a month, he believes some workers are not receiving their salaries. Some are even electrocuted as punishment, he said.

Ridwan was finally able to leave the syndicate and return to Indonesia on March 16 after faking an illness and paying the company P100,000. He executed a sworn affidavit before the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta which has been turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The NBI Anti-Human Trafficking Division has launched an investigation and is awaiting the release of a search warrant to conduct a raid in the condominiums.