Cops nab 23 Taiwanese, Chinese involved in cyber fraud

MANILA, Philippines - Police on Wednesday arrested a 23 Taiwanese and Chinese nationals during a raid at a telecom fraud syndicate's safehouse in Jaro, Iloilo City.

The Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) arrested 21 Taiwanese nationals and 2 Chinese nationals, who were caught in the act of engaging their victims, who are based abroad.

Seized from the suspects' safehouse in Barangay Cubay, Jaro district, were telephone units, laptop computers, VOIPgateway and other devices.

Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa of the ACG said that the operation was conducted based on the request of Jerry Chih-Yung Wang, Police Attaché to the Philippines of Taiwan Economic & Cultural Office.

Sosa said that according to Chua, a transnational crime syndicate from Taiwan involved in telephone fraud is operating in the Philippines. He said that the group's victims are usually Taiwanese and Chinese based in Mainland China.

He said that the syndicate's members would contact their would-be victims through the VOIP Internet call system and would introduce themselves as a police officer, prosecutor, judge or any other official involved in the Anti-Money Laundering Office in Taiwan.

"They will tell their target victims that their bank accounts were involved in money laundering, fraud and other crimes and will direct them to transfer all their money to a so-called 'Security Bank Account' provided by the suspects. Once the money was wire transferred, the suspects can no longer be contacted," Sosa said.

He said that the syndicate's members enter the Philippines as tourists and they usually rent houses in posh subdivisions.

The suspects are under the custody of the ACG pending their transfer to the Bureau of Immigration for immediate deportation as requested by Wang.