"Human traffickers using POGOs as ‘legal cover’,"

Human traffickers are using POGOs, or Philippine offshore gaming operators, as “legal cover” to perpetrate a cryptocurrency scam in the country, according to Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

During a Senate hearing on the “call center scam hub” supposedly happening at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga, Hontiveros said the Colorful and Leap Group managed to operate the scam as a sublessee of CGC Technologies Inc.

CGC Technologies Inc. is a POGO company licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor)…

At least 1,090 foreign workers were rescued from the hub, which was raided by authorities on May 4.

The workers were reportedly forced to work up to 18 hours a day under strict conditions.

They were reportedly trained to attract their clients, who are old and moneyed people, into buying cryptocurrency from them…

At least 12 personnel of the company – seven Chinese, four Indonesians and a Malaysian – had undergone inquest at the Department of Justice for human trafficking in relation to cybercrime, serious illegal detention and kidnapping, as well as violation of immigration laws…

The workers were reportedly detained and starved for days in a bare, dark room if they failed to scam a customer or if they wanted to quit, she said…