The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested six Chinese nationals in Angeles City, Pampanga for cyber-related scam crimes on August 14.
In a joint operation conducted by the NBI-Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD) and the NBI-Technical Intelligence Division (NBI-TID), operatives, in coordination with Clark Development Corporation, served an outstanding warrant of arrest on the subjects.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago mentioned that the operation stemmed from a letter from the Naval Intelligence and Security Group (NISG), requesting assistance for the validation and service of warrants to three Chinese nationals.
The subjects have outstanding arrest warrants for alleged Qualified Trafficking in Persons under Section 4 (J) in relation to Section 6 of RA No. 9208 as amended by RA 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012).
The CCD, together with the TID, launched an operation against one of the subjects after the operatives learned his exact location.
The target subject was not on the premises during the entrapment operation. Nevertheless, operatives discovered an office setup containing various desktop computers, cellular phones, SIM cards, several scripts, and customer ledgers.
Director Santiago reported that the examination of the computers revealed romance scam scripts, messaging apps with fake accounts, bank accounts, and fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms, indicating that the individuals utilizing these devices were involved in global fraudulent activities.
“Accordingly, these scripts and tools are used in scamming activities such as catfishing scams, credit card scams, cryptocurrency scams, and fake investment scams, among others,” NBI said in a press statement on Friday.
The Chinese nationals are facing charges for Computer-Related Forgery, Social Engineering Schemes, and Economic Sabotage.
