Philippines detains over 250 in scam farm raid

Police and other authorities raided the office building last Thursday and found staff with hundreds of phones, computers, and preregistered international and local SIM cards, the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission said.

These are red flags of love scamming that victimizes foreign nationals, the commission said in a statement, referring to schemes in which scammers pretend to have romantic feelings for their victims to earn their trust and eventually steal their money.

International concern has been growing over similar scam farms in Asia, often staffed by victims of trafficking who were tricked or coerced into promoting bogus cryptocurrency investments and other cons.