Scam hubs hiring dismissed cops, soldiers as henchmen — Remulla

MANILA — Online scam groups in the Philippines are using dismissed police and military personnel as henchmen, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Wednesday. 

Remulla said the groups also rely on Filipino partners to operate locally, as authorities track three suspected scam hubs in Metro Manila.

“You cannot operate here without having a Filipino partner. Our problem is that as we track, the henchmen that they use are dismissed policemen and dismissed military men,” Remulla told reporters. 

The interior secretary did not identify the dismissed personnel allegedly linked to the operations or provide details on their specific roles.

Remulla said authorities are still determining the exact locations of the three suspected scam hubs.

“Before, the industry had 5,000 people in one building. Now, they rent small houses and we are after them,” he said.

He said authorities are monitoring the electricity and broadband consumption of suspected locations, as well as the movements of suspicious individuals, to track down the groups. 

Remulla also rejected allegations of a “ningas cogon” mentality among law enforcement agencies, saying the shift to smaller scam hubs shows authorities have made it harder for criminal groups to operate on a large scale.

“I totally dispute that. [If that were so] then you would have a million people operating in the Philippines all over again,” he said.

“It’s not a nationwide syndicate that is operating. It is very localized and not as widespread as people are as the false narratives that are being spread,” he added. 

He also said the problem is not confined to the Philippines, with similar scam operations emerging across Southeast Asia.

The issue was among those discussed during the 20th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Makati City, where member states discussed the growing threat of cross-border criminal networks.