Two individuals supposedly hired by a foreign national were arrested for an alleged phishing scam, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP ACG) said on Monday.
The phishing scam involved the suspects sending out text messages pretending to be banks or telecommunications companies, asking receivers to click a suspicious link to ‘claim a reward,’ according to PNP ACG Director Brig. Gen. Bernard Yang in a press briefing.
The suspects were arrested in simultaneous operations in Mandaluyong and Makati City last Thursday, stemming from intelligence from the Philippine Navy and a warrant to search, seize, and examine computer data, Yang noted.
‘They go around Mandaluyong and Makati City to get the different numbers in that particular area. Sometimes, they go near malls, wherever they can get many numbers that they can process and send text messages to also,’ Yang explained in Filipino.
‘The main suspect we are looking into is a foreign national who is hiring Filipinos to drive these devices all over the different cities here in Manila,’ he added, without expounding on the foreigner’s profile.
In a statement later on Monday, the PNP ACG identified the arrested suspects as ‘Ayong,’ 24, and ‘Ramil,’ 39. It did not specify which suspect was arrested in which city.
A total of four international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catchers – bearing ‘non-English’ markings – were confiscated from the suspects, the PNP ACG added.
Yang explained that Ayong and Ramil did not know each other but were both part of the same group hired by the ‘main suspect.’
The ACG director further said they filed a case against the suspects last Thursday for violating Republic Act No. 3846 or the Radio Control Law, RA No. 8484 or the Access Devices Act, and RA No. 11934 or the SIM Card Registration Act in relation to RA No. 10175 or the Anti-Cybercrime Act.
Although he did not name the businesses that the suspects pretended to be, Yang added that the telecommunications companies and banks involved will file a case against the arrested individuals.