2 VLOGGERS AMONG 19 SCAMMERS ARRESTED FOR VOICE PHISHING

AGENTS of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) arrested 19 persons, including two vloggers, during a raid in a voice phishing lair in Imus City, Cavite.

Authorities said the two vloggers, who are both popular and with thousands of followers, provide technical support to the scammers.

PNP-ACG director Maj. Gen. Ronnie Francis M. Cariaga said they conducted the operation in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the local police and barangay authorities.

The operation saw members of the PNP-ACG Cyber Financial Crime Unit serving a Warrant to Search, Seize and Examine Computer Data at one of their targets’ house in Imus City.

Several SIM cards, mobile devices, laptops, assorted bank documents, ledgers, and scripts used to defraud  victims were seized during the raid.

Under “vishing,” members of a syndicate poses as bank representatives to convince their targets to update their old card and reveal their bank account details such as credit card numbers, as well as provide their One-Time-Pin (OTP).

From simple vishing to spear phishing, the suspects use information obtained from credit card applications and ledgers or spreadsheets, likely taken from third-party service providers of the banks such as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies, Cariaga said.

The scammers then use this information to access and siphon money from their victims’ bank accounts.

The arrested suspects are facing charges for violation of Republic Act 12010 or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).

Separate cases for violation of RA 8484 (Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 as amended and RA 10173 (Data Privacy Act of 2012), both in relation to RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,  will also be filed against the arrested suspects.

Following the arrest of the suspects, the PNP-ACG has warned the public against fraudulent phone calls from those pretending to be bank representatives so as not to fall prey to syndicates.