OVER 100 NABBED IN MAKATI LOVE SCAM HUB RAID

OPERATIVES of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday arrested over 100 Filipinos and Chinese nationals in a raid at an alleged “love scam” hub in a condominium building in Makati City.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said the “love scam” facility uses artificial intelligence (AI) to lure unsuspecting victims in online romances.

Most of the victims were from Europe and the Middle East. 

Santiago, who led the raid, said NBI agents discovered that the scammers used AI-generated conversations and fake profile pictures of attractive women to entice their victims to invest in cryptocurrency.

“With Valentine’s Day approaching, I urge both men and women to be cautious when using dating apps,” the NBI chief said.

Authorities found scripts on the desktops and mobile phones that were automated to exchange messages with the victims.

The NBI agents also seized unregistered SIMS for the mobile phones.

Among those arrested was a Chinese national who served as supervisor of the employees.

Charges for violating the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act are being readied for filing against the arrested suspects.