BPO-Run Dating Scam Busted in the Philippines

Another BPO-enabled scam ring was busted in the Philippines.

On September 26th, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines raided a BPO hub run from the fourth floor of a residential building in Angeles City, Pampanga. The site was involved in online love scams. During the operation, 84 workers who were forced to participate in the schemes were rescued.

According to local media reports, these workers were recruited under false pretenses, believing they would be performing finance and accounting tasks for foreign clients. Instead, they were coerced into posing as romantic partners to scam unsuspecting victims online.

The business, registered as “FMD Non-Voices Outsourcing Services,” was owned by a woman named Irene dela Cruz Vergara, who is now in custody, alongside seven other suspects.

The NBI seized numerous pieces of evidence, including SIM cards, mobile phones, computers and various documents.

Initial investigations revealed that the company targeted foreign nationals from the United States, the Middle East and Europe, using tactics such as social engineering, love scams, impersonation, phishing links and malicious websites to deceive individuals into investing in their fake forex trading platform.

The NBI conducted the raid following two months of surveillance and cyber monitoring.

Officials made it clear to the media that this operation was not related to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which have also been linked to criminal activities in the past.

“This is not a POGO. It is a love scam operated by a Filipino,” the authorities clarified, addressing the increasing confusion between legitimate BPOs and fraudulent operations.

The BPO industry is a main driver of the Filipino economy. However, it has recently been battling association with illegal operations, such as POGOs and dating scams.

Earlier this year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned all POGOs in the country due to their involvement in illegal activities.

In another incident earlier this year, a similar operation called Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. was uncovered as a POGO, despite its claims of being a legitimate outsourcing business.

These fraudulent hubs have created a challenging environment for genuine BPO companies. In March, police raided a village near Manila, rescuing 383 Filipinos, 202 Chinese and 73 people of other nationalities who were forcefully involved in dating scams.