Michelle Sabino, a spokeswoman for the Philippine national police force’s anti-cybercrime group, said officers raided a cluster of buildings Thursday in Mabalacat city about 90km north of Manila. A total of 1,090 people were rescued who had been recruited to run online scams.Sabino said the victims were forced to target unsuspecting people in the United States, Europe and Canada.
Their passports were confiscated and they were made to work up to 18 hours a day, with salary deductions for interacting with colleagues or taking extended breaks. “You’re like a prisoner without a cell. You’re not even allowed to talk to your roommates,” Sabino told AFP. “They’re not allowed to leave outside the bounds of the gate. After 18 hours of work, they’re brought to their dormitory.”
The victims were mostly Chinese nationals, Vietnamese, Filipinos and Indonesians, police said in a separate statement. Authorities also rescued people from Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Myanmar, Hong Kong and Nepal.
Sabino said the workers were trained to entice strangers into buying cryptocurrency or depositing money into bogus bank accounts after establishing fake romantic relationships.
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