A house fire in Batasan Hills, Quezin City early Tuesday morning has led authorities to uncover what they now suspect is a makeshift base for an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) guerrilla operation.
According to Marisol Abdurahman’s “24 Oras” report, residents were awakened at dawn by the blaze, which quickly spread through the residential property.
Once the fire was contained, investigators made a startling discovery: thousands of SIM cards, multiple computers, text blaster devices, and a passport belonging to a Chinese national.
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said the items point to a possible clandestine scam or online gambling operation.
“Baka isa dun sa natanggal sa isang company at nagge-guerrilla operation o may grupo rin pero di naman naka-base dito,” said QCPD District Director Police Colonel Glen Silvio.
(Maybe one of those who got removed from a company and started a guerrilla operation, or is part of a group that’s not actually based here.)
He added that they are now coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) to determine if the Chinese national has a derogatory record.
Among the most alarming finds were text blaster devices capable of sending mass messages, likely used to propagate fraudulent schemes.
“Magme-message po ‘yung isang person dito sa CPU niya, tapos dadaan ‘yung message niya sa text blaster. So multiple ang sending niyan kung lahat ‘yan may SIM card. Isang message lang ‘yun,” Silvio explained.
(One person will type a message on their computer, then that message goes through the text blaster. It sends the same message to multiple recipients if each one has a SIM card — it’s just one message, but it gets sent many times.)
Police also recovered a notebook filled with what appeared to be scripted templates for scam messages.
“Parang training ang modus nitong pag-text… may template na statement ng social media training,” Silvio added.
(It’s like texting is part of a training modus… there’s a template or script used for social media training.)
Further confirming the suspicion of a scam operation, members of the QC Anti-Cybercrime Team noted the clear intent behind the equipment setup.
“‘Tong mga equipment na ‘to na nakalagay, just to send messages — ‘yung fraudulent messages na magde-deceive ng kanilang mga target na victims. Magpo-propagate lang sila ng messages, magre-receive lang sila ng replies. Maybe someone else will process sino potential victims,” said Police Colonel Crisostomo Ubac.
(These pieces of equipment are set up just to send messages — fraudulent messages meant to deceive their target victims. They just propagate the messages and receive replies. Maybe someone else handles identifying who the potential victims are.)
Authorities are now searching for the Chinese national whose passport was found at the scene.
He may face charges related to cyber fraud and misuse of telecommunications equipment.—Sherylin Untalan/LDF, GMA Integrated News
