In Imus, Cavite, a known rapper and his singer girlfriend, along with 17 others, were apprehended as suspects involved in a vishing scam. Police reports said the rapper identified himself as “Boy,” wherein he claimed that they were hired by the main recruiter of the group, called “Mamita.” The latter has allegedly been involved in such an illegal activity for 11 years already.

Boy claimed the inconsistency of his income derived from other sources made him joined the scam group. By the time he was offered with another job opportunity, he was, by then, unaware that it had to do with the scam operation.

The group, the authorities said, had been reaping some PHP 5 million every week from the illegal activities.

PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group arrested the suspects in a rented house that serves as a scam hub. The group targeted victims who pretended to be bank representatives to convince them to update their cards. Little did the victims know, scammers were stealing money from their respective bank accounts.
The lawmen seized several SIM cards, mobile phones, laptops, bank documents, ledgers, and scripts used to deceive their victims during the said raid. The seized items also included application forms for credit cards, which they supposedly got from malls outside the banks.

The PNP-ACG has already raided vishing hubs in four raids conducted from June to August this year. Aside from the arrests in Imus, nine suspects were arrested in General Trias and Trece Martires, Cavite, while eleven were arrested in Taguig.

The alleged racketeers will be charged with allegedly violating the recently passed Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act or AFASA signed into law by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Additional charges would be filed under the Access Devices Regulation Act, Data Privacy Act, and Cybercrime Prevention Act.