Filipino police free hundreds of slaves toiling in romance scam operation
- Reference: 1710740766
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/03/18/phillipines_cyberslavery_gang_busted/
- Source link:
A video of the [1]raid on the Tarlac Pogo firm posted last Thursday [2]shows the nation's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) entering what appears to be an office housing rows of workers in front of computers.
The rescued "workers" hailed from Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Rwanda, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Kyrgyzstan. The victims were allegedly lured into slavery on the promised of a job offer. Instead, they allegedly had their passports confiscated and were forced to adopt fake identities and pretend to be suitors of their victims to extract money.
[3]
The schemes that lured the workers involved promises of cryptocurrency wins, investments in businesses, and more.
[4]
[5]
Those who failed to meet quotas were physically harmed, deprived of sleep or locked in their rooms, executive director of Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Gilberto Cruz, told [6]local media .
Officials were reportedly tipped off by a Vietnamese worker who arrived at the center in January. He arrived after being promised a job as a chef. Police said he bore signs of torture in the form of electrocution marks.
[7]
During the raid, the authorities seized live ammunition and guns from the ten-hectare compound, located approximately 60 miles north of Manila. Also found were mobile phones, sim cards and scripts. Thirty-four vehicles within the compound had mismatched serial numbers and license plates, according to Cruz.
[8]Cambodian authorities crack down on cyber slavery amid international pressure
[9]China's gambling crackdown spawned wave of illegal online casinos and crypto-crime in Asia
[10]International effort to disrupt cybercrime moves into operational phase
[11]Interpol moves against human traffickers who enslave people to scam you online
Since the raid, nine people have been charged in connection with the scam center. Only one of the individuals was Filipino, according to [12]local media . Five were Chinese, two Vietnamese and one Malaysian. The individuals face anti-trafficking violations, among others, following an inquest.
The "gaming company" that ran the operation – which went by Zun Yuan Technology Incorporated – maintains a meager [13]website that may not initially set off alarm bells and appears more targeted toward recruiting staff than clients. The faux company details that it was established in 2023 as an upcoming "prominent player/game provider in the online gaming industry" providing "a comprehensive range of services tailored to meet the unique needs of online casino operators worldwide."
[14]
Zun Yuan Technologies Inc website – Click to enlarge
It then goes on to identify the company's purported facilities: a large cafeteria, multiple large generators for uninterrupted business operations, an onsite convenience store and a professional-grade billiards room.
Those interested in getting in touch can do so only through Telegram or an email address.
Scam compounds staffed with trafficked and enslaved manpower have become common in Southeast Asia. Last October, authorities in the Philippines [15]raided what claimed to be an internet gaming license hub, called Smart Web Technology Corporation, in Pasay City – one of the cities that make up Metro Manila. Smart Web was allegedly dealing in sex trafficking, as well as crypto investment and love scams.
Forced labor cyber crime syndicates have also been found in [16]Cambodia , [17]Laos, and Myanmar .
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According to a [19]report [PDF] from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), "the development of scalable and digitized solutions has supercharged the criminal business environment across Southeast Asia."
The report noted that the proliferation of similar forced-labor operations has intensified calls to ban online offshore gambling operators in the Philippines, resulting in new regulations of such entities.
Unfortunately, such measures to address cyber fraud operations have only pushed them from Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam into places like Lao PDR and parts of Myanmar. ®
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[1] https://twitter.com/PCADGOfficial/status/1768197486748004777
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xam2AzEpMw
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZfgeyUHegN1th4caYXarYAAAAVc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZfgeyUHegN1th4caYXarYAAAAVc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZfgeyUHegN1th4caYXarYAAAAVc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/15/hundreds-people-rescued-love-scam-philippines/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZfgeyUHegN1th4caYXarYAAAAVc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/22/cambodian_authorities_crack_down_on/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/16/un_asia_tech_crime_report/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/14/wef_cybercrime_atlas/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/12/interpol_cyberscam_trafficker_action/
[12] https://www.rappler.com/nation/luzon/foreigners-filipino-face-criminal-charges-tarlac-pogo-raid-march-2024/
[13] http://zunyuanwuye.com/
[14] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/03/18/phillipines_cybercrime_labor.jpg
[15] https://www.rappler.com/philippines/internet-gaming-license-hub-raid-human-trafficking-october-27-2023/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/22/cambodian_authorities_crack_down_on/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/12/interpol_cyberscam_trafficker_action/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZfgeyUHegN1th4caYXarYAAAAVc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2024/Casino_Underground_Banking_Report_2024.pdf
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
If you include the people working slave-labour manual jobs for minimum wage (let's face it, they're a slave of their financial circumstances and FORCED to work those jobs to survive), then I've absolutely no doubt of it.
It's definitely a problem in its own right but I think it's pretty grotesque to try to equate working a shitty, low paying job with the horrors of actual slavery.
Wage slaves don't tend to be, tortured, sexually abused, never see families or freedom again, etc.
I'd hardly add them to the numbers, shitty a situation as being on low wages is.
Modern slavery
Slightly dated information from 2018: https://theexodusroad.com/does-slavery-exist-in-america-today/
Estimates 403,000 actual slaves in the US defined as either forced labor or forced marriage
Worldwide, the slave trade from has grown from 12.5 million slaves captured and shipped, largely to the Americas, From 1526–1867 to something more like 50 million slaves at any one time circa 2021:
https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/map/#mode=map
Just going by 50 / 12.5, that says the trade has grown 4 to 1 or 400%
A major reason for this growth is how inexpensive it is to own a slave now. In 1886 you would have spent $40,000 for a slave (adjusted for inflation). Today you can get a slave for more like $90.
That's mind boggling. Control over another human's dreams and aspirations for less than the cost of a meal for two in Los Angeles.
Please fact check me. I'm more than a little aghast at what I found.
Just because you get paid doesn't mean its not slavery.
9 arrests?
875 victims and 9 arrests.
Clearly a lot of the perpetrators and participants have yet to be arrested, and I'm guessing most never will.
Re: 9 arrests?
Well, the inquest is not finished. One can only hope that accomplices will be found during interrogation of everyone they have. The victims will be only too happy to describe the people who beat them, and the nine arrested will certainly be taught that it is in their best interest to cooperate fully.
I am hopeful that more perpetrators will be brought to justice, but let us not kid ourselves : the top level who put the money in this operation will never be bothered.
That annoys me immensely.
Smart Web was allegedly dealing in sex trafficking, as well as crypto investment and love scams.
Dealing in Crypto, that's pretty low...
I remember reading in high school that there are more slaves today than there have ever been in any other point in history, despite slavery now being illegal in every nation on Earth.
Wonder if that's changed at all?