Scam no more: how the Philippines is cracking down on online fraud centres with UN support

Thirty-six hours. That was the brief window police had to file charges after raiding an online scam centre’s headquarters in the heart of Metro Manila last year.

“How do you prove a cybercrime in 36 hours? It is not possible; we were scrambling,” said the former Operations Director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC). “We had to improvise and ended up bringing charges of human trafficking – that is a lot easier to prove when you find hundreds of foreign nationals trapped in the compound.”

Thanks to the support of the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as of this week, PAOCC has standard operating procedures and internal policies in place, setting out a rights-based and victim-centred approach to implementing the new regulations banning Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which were often used as cover for scam centres run by criminal syndicates. The procedures, which were signed at an official high-level ceremony in Manila on 22 April, cover the repatriation of victims, the taking of witness statements and collection of evidence, the custody of alleged perpetrators, and asset recovery.

“This significant undertaking reflects our collective resolve to strengthen inter-agency coordination, enhance operational efficiency, and reinforce our national framework in addressing organized and transnational crime,” said Benjamin C. Acorda, Executive Director of PAOCC. “Through this enduring partnership, we continue to build institutions that are responsive, cohesive, and firmly anchored on the principles of justice and the rule of law.”

Online scam centres have mushroomed in several countries in Southeast Asia over the last five years, including the Philippines. They involve luring people from other countries with false promises of glamorous jobs, and forcing them to commit online fraud. Men and women from across the region and beyond have been recruited into these compounds under false pretences, with many trapped in conditions of coercion, debt, surveillance, violence and fear. The victims are not allowed to leave the compounds, are subject to blackmail and even torture if they do not meet the quotas assigned to them.

Women face particular risks inside these compounds. These criminal networks are increasingly targeting women – exploiting their hope and desperation for a better life and more money than the meager wages they earn in their home countries. The women then find themselves locked in dark rooms, used for online romance schemes. If they do not deliver, they are forced into sex work to serve the managers and male workers inside compounds, which also include gaming tables and karaoke rooms, the use of which ensures that the trapped workers spend most of the money they earn enriching the scam centre operators and ending up in debt. Men and other workers are also subjected to abuse, forced labour, debt bondage and physical punishment, particularly when they fail to meet fraud quotas.

“Whatever revenues POGOs claimed to generate could never justify the lawlessness, exploitation, and social decay they left behind,” said Executive Secretary Ralph G. Recto, who, as Finance Secretary back in 2024 recommended to the President to ban POGOs. “That directive was the first decisive step in dismantling an industry that had promised much in revenues and jobs, but in reality, delivered little beyond immense suffering to countless Filipinos.”

PAOCC has so far liberated 5,949 people, including 3,483 foreigners. 218 perpetrators are awaiting trial. 

The scam centre in Pasay City lies a few hundred meters from embassies, government departments, and the city hall. It has since been converted into PAOCC’s headquarters. Where crime bosses once directed illicit operations, investigators now work to uncover crimes linked to POGOs and other online schemes. Parts of the compound have been left intact, including what were once the entertainment area, gaming hall and torture chamber, to give visitors a stark sense of what took place there until just over a year ago. A portion of the site now houses a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) “Walang Gutom” (“No One Hungry”)  kitchen, which can serve around 700 people a day.

“The Philippines has shown that it is taking this threat seriously,” said Amielle del Rosario of UNODC Philippines. “Online scam centers move across borders, adapt quickly, and are often linked to other abuses, including trafficking in persons. Countries need responses that match that reality, and UNODC is committed to supporting that effort.”

In December 2025, UNODC organized a visit for police and immigration officers from across Southeast Asia to visit the centre and learn from PAOCC’s experience. The regional exchange was funded by the European Union. 

At least 300,000 people work in scam centres in Southeast Asia, according to UN estimates – in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and other countries. 

The United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, adopted by the General Assembly in December 2024, is the first globally legally binding treaty specifically designed to combat digital crime. It serves as a vital tool in dismantling scam centers—particularly those in Southeast Asia—by providing a universal framework to criminalize online fraud and technology-enabled organized crime. The treaty enhances the fight against these syndicates by establishing a network for rapid international cooperation and mandating the standardized collection and sharing of electronic evidence. This streamlined cooperation is essential for tracking cross-border financial fraud and the human trafficking often linked to forced labor in scam hubs. 

The Philippines has come a long way from viewing POGOs as a potential source of revenue for the country to going after the fraudsters operating them. “No country can deal with this alone,” Ms. del Rosario said. “The networks behind them operate across jurisdictions and exploit weak coordination between authorities. That makes international cooperation essential.”