United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime | The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in the Philippines has improved policies and procedures to address offshore gaming operators (POGOs) often used as cover for scam compounds and organized crime.

One of the challenges in bringing charges against the transnational crime groups running scams is time. Law enforcement can breach a compound, but how do they prosecute based on what they find?

“How do you prove a cybercrime in 36 hours? It is not possible; we were scrambling,” said the former Operations Director of the 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.”

With help from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), PAOCC now has implemented standard operating procedures and internal policies. The procedures use a rights-based and victim-centered approach to new regulations banning Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), which were often used as cover for scam centers. They cover:

Repatriation of victims
Taking witness statements
Collection of evidence
Custody of alleged perpetrators
Asset recovery

“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.”

Online scam centers have increased in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, over the last five years. They use human trafficking to recruit people under false pretenses, then trap them in compounds where they’re forced to commit online fraud under conditions of coercion, debt, surveillance, violence, and fear. They’re subject to blackmail and even torture if they do not meet the quotas.

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

The UN Convention against Cybercrime

Adopted by the General Assembly in December 2024, the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime is the first globally legally binding treaty specifically designed to combat digital crime. It serves as a vital tool in dismantling scam centers 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.

Full article: How the Philippines is cracking down on online fraud centres with UN support