Inside the dark world of Philippine scam centres

This handout photo taken on March 13, 2024 and received on July 18, 2024 from the Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC), shows the raid operations at a scam center in Bamban, province of Tarlac. Scam centres have mushroomed across South-East Asia, with crime syndicates luring, kidnapping or coercing workers into predatory online activity, and raking in billions of dollars. — Handout/PAOCC/AFP

MANILA: It started with a raid on a Chinese-run online gambling centre north of Manila where hundreds of foreigners and Filipinos were forced to run scams or risk torture.

Then came explosive allegations that the local mayor was involved in the illicit operation – and that she was a Chinese national masquerading as a Filipina.