Senator Risa Hontiveros issued a warning recently about the country’s expanding cryptocurrency scam, also known as “pig butchering,” stating that many of these operations are now in the Philippines.
During the Senate hearing of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, Hontiveros stated: “Sadly, right under our very noses, the Philippines is hosting its very own scam hubs.”
“Pig butchering” is basically a scam targeting people who want to make money on the cryptocurrency market. Hontiveros also warned that this scam uses ‘pseudo call centers’ that employ foreigners trafficked into the country.
Hontiveros revealed that a large number of condominium buildings in the Philippines have since been converted into working facilities for trafficked individuals who were being forced to commit scams on victims.
She added that the victims of human trafficking are usually forced to participate in a slew of fraudulent rackets, including dating, investment, identity, and cryptocurrency scams, just to name a few.
According to the senator, this development is quite concerning. She revealed how, in 2022, a massive human trafficking operation targeting Filipinos looking for work abroad was compelled to work as con artists in Myanmar and Cambodia.
“The Philippines should not be used as a petri dish for human trafficking. If scam hubs in Cambodia and Myanmar are in remote areas, scam hubs in the Philippines are in the capital,” she said.
The senator further estimates that there may be thousands of these victims of trafficking who come from South Asian and African nations, most frequently Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Indonesia.
Issues about national security raised
During the hearing, the senator also requested prompt action to address this major national security issue and expressed alarm about how easily foreigners could enter the country — possibly through the help of dishonest airport staff or immigration officials.
“We need to solve this immediately because it poses a severe threat to national security. We cannot enable these organizations to convert our nation into a haven for criminal activity,” Hontiveros said.
According to crypto audit firm CertiK, a total of $103.7 million worth of funds were lost in cryptocurrency-related scams last month. This brought the total amount of money lost this year due to these incidents to $429.7 million.
A rescued Filipina who was one of the witnesses mentioned how they had received crypto training to become familiar with crypto exchanges.
Their strategy is to persuade their unwary victims to download cryptocurrency applications like Coinbase, which the witness’ handler will then attempt to seize control of in order to gain total access to the user’s cash.
An Indonesian national who attended the hearing under the nickname ‘Ridwan’ (not his real name) talked about discussed his experience of being duped and trafficked into the Philippines to work as a con artist. He shared that he applied for a position in digital marketing but was forced to con other Indonesians into buying fake cryptocurrencies later on.
When asked where they found their victims, Ridwan revealed that they are primarily users of Facebook, Tinder, and Instagram who were forced to buy cryptocurrencies after being blackmailed emotionally.
Hontiveros thus urged social media companies to remove and stop questionable job postings that lead to these fraud schemes, pointing out that Facebook advertising could still be recruiting citizens of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa to work in Philippine-based fraud factories.