POGO hub in Makati raided

WHAT is believed to be a major Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub in Makati City was raided on Thursday by a team led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission. The POGO occupied 21 floors of the PBCom Tower along Ayala Avenue. The hub had been hastily abandoned by the workers shortly before the team arrived. The air conditioners on three of the floors were still running. Although the power breakers had been turned off, a kettle of tea was still warm, and the rooms were still chilly. The hub appeared to have been in operation based on a security logbook entry made just two hours prior to the raid around 4 or 5 p.m. Witnesses claimed to have seen employees in a hurry to leave the premises. The team found computers, cell phones, SIM cards, hard drives, OTP generators and scripts believed to be used in Bitcoin fraud and other investment scams were strewn on the desks. Authorities said about 600 people, mostly foreigners, were employed by the POGO. "We discovered various scam scripts, including one for an Ethereum investment scheme," said Inna Ladislao, head agent of the Department of Justice's Office of Cybercrime. "The presence of OTP generators indicates potential involvement in online wallet or bank account fraud. Authorities had suspected that a closed Internet Gaming Licensee was holding an office in the high-rise, and the raid was carried out on the strength of a mission order from the Makati city government. Authorities said the hub was running 21 organizations, each of which was registered under a different name.