Human traffickers using POGOs as ‘legal cover’

MANILA, Philippines — Human traffickers are using POGOs, or Philippine offshore gaming operators, as “legal cover” to perpetrate a cryptocurrency scam in the country, according to Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

During a Senate hearing on the “call center scam hub” supposedly happening at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Hontiveros said the Colorful and Leap Group managed to operate the scam as a sublessee of CGC Technologies Inc.

CGC Technologies Inc. is a POGO company licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

“I have learned from the case of the Sun Valley. These scam hubs hide under the licenses of POGOs… POGOs provide a ‘legal layer’ to these hubs and the operations of these hubs remain beyond regulatory scrutiny,” Hontiveros said during an inquiry conducted on the human trafficking syndicate at Clark.

At least 1,090 foreign workers were rescued from the hub, which was raided by authorities on May 4.

The workers were reportedly forced to work up to 18 hours a day under strict conditions.

They were reportedly trained to attract their clients, who are old and moneyed people, into buying cryptocurrency from them.

Others reportedly get into a romantic relationship with their clients so they could extract money from them.

At least 12 personnel of the company – seven Chinese, four Indonesians and a Malaysian – had undergone inquest at the Department of Justice for human trafficking in relation to cybercrime, serious illegal detention and kidnapping, as well as violation of immigration laws.

“The workers seduce their customers by engaging in a video call with them in ‘video conference rooms’ that look like household rooms,” Hontiveros said.

The workers were reportedly detained and starved for days in a bare, dark room if they failed to scam a customer or if they wanted to quit, she said.

Hontiveros presented accounts of the workers, who revealed their ordeal at the hands of the traffickers.

She scored the Pagcor for granting licenses to POGO companies used by syndicates in scamming.

“Pagcor, as the regulator of POGOs, should be actively looking into the companies that they allow to operate in the country. Otherwise, it is, in effect, exacerbating this growing and disturbing humanitarian crisis in our region,” Hontiveros said.

She urged Malacañang to ban POGOs in the country due to a string of crimes attributed to these companies.

“I hope Malacañang has been paying attention and taking notes, because we have been investigating the social costs and crimes attributed to POGOS for three years already,” she said.