Scam hubs linked to banned offshore gaming operators could become a permanent fixture in the Philippines, analysts warned, if law enforcement fails to dismantle the networks fuelling their illicit activities completely.
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The warning followed the recent arrest of 450 people, including five Chinese nationals said to be their bosses, at a suspected scam hub in Manila on February 20.
Investigations by the Philippine Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) revealed that the hub may have operated as a scam centre targeting victims in China and India with sports betting and investment schemes.
Of the 450 people arrested, 137 were Chinese nationals.
The goal here is to make the country ‘Pogo hub-free’ to halt all the social ills of immorality
Chester Cabalza, president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, warned that these small-scale scam houses could “become a cottage industry in [Metro Manila] if not totally eradicated.”
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