{"id":777023299,"date":"2025-02-24T09:51:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T12:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777023299"},"modified":"2026-04-22T01:31:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T04:31:16","slug":"philippine-senator-calls-for-probe-into-scams-previously-operated-by-offshore-gaming-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-senator-calls-for-probe-into-scams-previously-operated-by-offshore-gaming-operators","title":{"rendered":"Philippine senator calls for probe into scams previously operated by offshore gaming operators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sherwin Gatchalian says more action may be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- Senator Sherwin Gatchalian<\/strong> has filed Senate Resolution No. 1317<\/strong> calling for an investigation into the continued proliferation of love scams and other online frauds even after the banning of offshore gaming operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gatchalian said relevant government agencies must continue to collaborate with international partners to develop and implement interventions and track and prosecute scammers across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG)<\/strong> has indicated eight reported cases of online love scams in January, following 72 cases in the previous year. The Australian Federal Police said that around 5,000 Australians had fallen victim to a love scam operation based in the Philippines, losing AUS$24m. The majority of victims targeted were men aged 35 to 80, who were primarily approached through online dating applications.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Photo
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Gatchalian said that since offshore gaming operators had been considered the main perpetrators of love scams, there is a need to re-evaluate and strengthen the existing offshore gaming ban<\/a> or implement stricter monitoring and enforcement measures<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: “These fraudulent activities are frequently linked to organised cybercriminals including illegal online gaming operators and cryptocurrency transactions that provide perpetrators with an untraceable means of transferring and laundering illicit funds. Perpetrators usually target victims across borders using online platforms, creating a global network where scammers can exploit people from various countries due to difficulty in tracking them down across different jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The use of cryptocurrencies in these scams also warrants a second look as it poses a significant challenge to regulators and law enforcement due to the cross-border nature of these transactions and its concealability.”<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n

See also:<\/span> Government agencies urged to speed up deportation of former offshore gaming workers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sherwin Gatchalian says more action may be needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":17179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has initiated a Senate investigation into the persistent proliferation of online love scams and cybercrimes in the Philippines, despite the ban on offshore gaming operators. These fraudulent activities are linked to organized cybercriminals, illegal online gaming, and untraceable cryptocurrency transactions, posing significant cross-border regulatory and law enforcement challenges. The resolution calls for enhanced inter-agency and international collaboration to track and prosecute perpetrators and re-evaluate existing regulatory frameworks.","focusai_entities":"Sherwin Gatchalian, Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), Australian Federal Police","focusai_location":"The Philippines, Australia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (1.0), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Ban Efficacy?","query":"What specific metrics or indicators will be used to re-evaluate the efficacy of the existing offshore gaming ban in the Philippines, beyond reported scam cases?"},{"label":"Crypto Regulation Impact?","query":"How do the proposed stricter monitoring and enforcement measures specifically address the challenges posed by cross-border cryptocurrency transactions in illicit fund flows, and what new regulatory tools are being considered?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[23911,4138,15789],"class_list":["post-777023299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-online-gambling","tag-pogos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777023299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777023299"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777023299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777023312,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777023299\/revisions\/777023312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777023299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777023299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777023299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}