NINE aliens said to be involved in an online loan fraud scheme were arrested in a joint operation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) as part of efforts to combat cyber-enabled crimes.
It was learned from NBI Director Jaime Santiago that the operation was conducted from the evening of June 25 to the early hours of June 26 at a condominium unit in Parañaque City.
Santiago said the arrested individuals are temporarily detained at the NBI’s Organized and Transnational Crime Division and will be turned over to the BI Warden Facility after processing.
According to Santiago, the law enforcement action stemmed from a mission order issued against two other foreign fugitives, and led to the discovery of nine Korean nationals—aged between 29 and 31—caught in the act of operating suspected scam platforms.
Upon inspection, authorities found the individuals manning separate computer stations with pre-written scripts suspected to be used for fraudulent online lending transactions.
Santiago said that according to a representative from the Korean government, the setup bore the hallmarks of an international online loan fraud operation targeting victims abroad.
