Authorities arrested 453 illegal POGO employees in a raid on an office building in the Bay Area, Parañaque City on Thursday, February 20, 20251. The group included 146 foreigners, mostly Chinese, who were caught in front of their computers across three floors of a building believed to be running illegal offshore gaming and scamming operations1.
The raid was carried out by operatives from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration, the Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, enforcing an arrest warrant against a Chinese national for fraud1. An Immigration Mission Order was also implemented, as the subject is an employee of the suspected POGO that had been under surveillance for months1.
Initial review of computer screens and interviews with Filipino employees indicated different scams on each floor. The fifth and seventh floors ran a stock investment scam, with spamming from a Hong Kong mobile number on the seventh floor, while the sixth floor ran an online betting scam targeting Indians, staffed by Filipino employees1. Scripts for task scams, love scams and what officials called the Indian sports betting scam were found at workstations1. Authorities recovered hundreds of computers, laptops, smartphones, pre-registered SIM cards and other gadgets, which will undergo digital forensics1.
The facility had been raided before and a closure order issued, but it was operating under a new name with a Mayor's permit, business license and a barangay permit, which will form part of the investigation1.
"They have been operating for the past two years and they never stopped. They said they came from ASEANA. When it got too risky, they transferred here."
By February 24, 20 foreigners and two Filipinos arrested in the raid had undergone inquest proceedings for qualified human trafficking charges, and among the foreigners facing those complaints is the boss of the POGO hub2. Three Vietnamese citizens and one Filipino woman are serving as complainants and testified on the alleged love scam scheme2. More than 300 Filipino employees had already been released but were being investigated for conducting sports betting for Indians2. The Indian Embassy is coordinating with local authorities to check the confiscated items2.
The arrested foreigners will be detained at the PAOCC Detention Facility in Pasay, where they will undergo profiling and biometric procedures with the Bureau of Immigration while verification of their immigration status is ongoing1. The Filipinos will be held for questioning and investigation1.
What it means for players
The raid points to scam operations that targeted gamblers and investors directly, including an online betting scheme aimed at Indian customers and a love scam in which Vietnamese women posed as models to draw victims into cryptocurrency investments1. For anyone gambling in the Philippines, legal domestic play is separate from these operations, which authorities describe as illegal offshore gaming and scamming1. The Philippines' ban on offshore gaming is covered in our guide to the Philippines' ban on offshore gaming (POGOs), and general risks are set out in gambling scams and safety in Asia. Legal gambling options in the country are covered in Can I gamble in the Philippines?.
What happens next
The Bureau of Immigration is prioritizing the immediate deportation of the arrested foreigners and is booking whatever flights are available2. The PAOCC flagged that some foreign employees who availed of voluntary deportation managed to escape during layovers, and its spokesperson asked that implementation orders not be issued when a deportee's ticket includes a layover2. The Chinese Embassy coordinated with Philippine officials on the arrests2. The confiscated devices will be examined through digital forensics, and authorities said they are still retrieving files to determine the nationalities of those scammed1.
