Fake call centre seeking funds for typhoon Haiyan busted

Manila: Philippine justice department agents on Tuesday swooped on a call centre operating in Makati City and arrested some 100 people suspected of milking Typhoon Haiyan donors.

Among the suspected members of the racket arrested is a Canadian, identified as David Gilinsky and a British national identified only as “Paul”, agent Astremero of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Division told Gulf News.

“The raid was conducted on Tuesday evening,” she said adding that, aside from the typhoon Haiyan cover, investigators were looking into the possibility that the group had used other similar modus to exploit unsuspecting donors.

“What we can confirm is that this group had victimised people from other countries such as those in the Middle East, Europe, US and other countries in Asia,” she said.

According to a report by GMA News, call centre agents would introduce themselves to unsuspecting victims as a group soliciting donations for victims of typhoon Haiyan (locally named Yolanda).

The report quoted lawyer Vic Lorenzo, executive director of the NBI cybercrime division, as saying that Gilinsky’s group would call potential targets and claim that they were organising a charity effort for the calamity victims.

“We are looking into other scams perpetrated by this group,” he said.

During the arrests carried out on Tuesday evening, several computer units and telephones were seized by the NBI.

Gilinsky’s lawyer had reportedly denied the allegations that their operations are illegal.

Gilinsky and his accomplices could be charged with misrepresenting themselves and for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the Securities Regulation Code and possibly the law governing Access Devices.

The raid carried out on Gilinsky’s operations in Makati City is the latest carried out on businesses using cyberspace for criminal purposes.

The NBI Cybercrime Division and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group have carried out a number of successful operations in the past.

Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Visayas Islands on November 8, 2013, caused massive damage as well as a serious humanitarian emergency.

An estimated 6,300 people, mostly from provinces in the Eastern Visayas region, died in the disaster while at least three million homes were seriously damaged.

In its aftermath, the Philippine government, as well as the international community, mobilised resources for the aid effort.

In the Philippines, a number of unscrupulous groups and individuals exploited this goodwill and, as part of precautions to ensure that the aid would go to its intended beneficiaries, the government has put up Foreign Aid Transparency Hub.

According to Secretary of Budget and Management Florencio Abad, P32.2 billion (Dhs 2,704,311,514.59) in funds have already been released for post-Haiyan aid as of May 15 this year.