PAOCC takes action vs online loan scams

MANILA, Philippines — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission is addressing the rise of online crimes, particularly bank loan scams, a PAOCC official said yesterday.

During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum in Manila, PAOCC chief Gilbert Cruz said the most recent case the commission solved involved teachers who fell prey to a car loan scam across several provinces.

“The victims are not just ordinary people. The last crime we solved were teachers who were scammed by car loans in Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Bataan,” he said in Filipino.

Cruz said the teachers were coerced into surrendering their passports and disclosing their online account details to get a loan.

The PAOCC has filed 18 cases related to car loan scams, and teachers have expressed their gratitude to the commission, according to Cruz.

The victims were promised a monthly income of P15,000 from the car being rented out or used as a transport network vehicle service unit.

Unknown to the victims, their vehicles were later sold through “pasalo” schemes, in which the buyer takes over paying the balance of the loan, Cruz said.

“The teachers don’t know that the suspects are selling their cars in a pasalo scheme, so there are now two victims here: the teachers or the employees who take the car loan scam and those who are in the pasalo scam,” he added.

He also highlighted the use of “text blasters” within a five-kilometer radius to reach potential victims, offering loans with the lowest interest.

Failure to repay results in harassment through text messages and online platforms, with the victims’ relatives and friends being contacted, according to the PAOCC.

Cruz said that the PAOCC has filed cases against two Chinese and several Filipino “keyboard warriors” who assisted them in the scams.

The PAOCC, Cruz said, is  pursuing cases against these syndicates, whose members may have victimized at least 80 teachers.