Latest news with #Pogo
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Pogos in Pakistan? Scheme to traffic Filipinos shows ‘evolution' of scam operations
A scheme to traffic Filipinos into Pakistan to work for gaming firms formerly based in the Philippines has exposed the latest evolution of online scam networks linked to the controversial Pogo industry, immigration officials and analysts warn. The case – the first known incident involving Filipinos being trafficked to Pakistan – suggests that criminal syndicates previously operating under Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) licences are shifting to new jurisdictions following a government crackdown on the sector. On July 6, four Filipinos bound for Hong Kong were intercepted at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport after immigration officers found discrepancies in their statements. Investigators later discovered that their real destination was Pakistan – and that one of them, a former Pogo worker, had been recruited by a Chinese ex-employer who had relocated operations after President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr ordered a nationwide Pogo shutdown last year. In October, the Marcos administration ordered foreign Pogo workers in the country to voluntarily downgrade their visas before 2025 or face deportation. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr last year ordered a nationwide Pogo shutdown. Photo: AP The four Filipinos intercepted at the airport last week were the 'first confirmed case involving Pakistan', Melvin Mabulac, the Bureau of Immigration's deputy spokesman, confirmed in a television interview with ABS-CBN News last week.
The Star
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Philippine public warned against illegal offshore gaming sites
MANILA: The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) on Sunday (June 29) warned the public against illegal offshore gaming websites that claim to be licensed or accredited by the agency. Pagcor said the fake offshore gaming websites even use its logo and display fabricated licence certificates. It identified some of the illegal sites as OG7777 online gaming ( KRATOSBET LTD ( and Another fraudulent site, has been found to be operating from the United Kingdom. In a statement, Pagcor chair and CEO Alejandro Tengco said, 'these platforms are not authorised to operate under any Pagcor-issued licence. We want to make it very clear that the use of Pagcor's name and logo by these sites is a blatant disrespect to the agency and poses a threat to the public.' 'We urge everyone to remain vigilant and to always verify the legitimacy of any gaming site before engaging in it,' he said. Tengco reiterated that effective Dec. 31, 2024, all Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) in the country are banned based on an order from President Marcos. 'Any entity claiming to operate under a Pagcor license for offshore gaming is clearly violating the law and should be reported immediately,' the Pagcor official said. For a list of licensed gaming operators and to stay informed about legitimate gaming activities, the public can visit Pagcor's official website at The nationwide Pogo ban was announced by Marcos during his State of the Nation Address in July 2024. In November, he issued Executive Order (EO) No. 74, which imposed an immediate ban on offshore and internet gaming in the country. Cited in his EO was a study by the Department of Finance, which noted that Pogo activities significantly outweigh their economic and social benefits because of the risks they pose, including higher crime rates. — Philippine Daily Inquirer/PNA
South China Morning Post
27-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Ex-Pogo workers fuel rise in Philippine online scams, police say
Filipinos who once worked for offshore gaming operators are turning to online scams, law enforcement officials have warned, amid signs that the industry's shutdown has given way to a more fragmented and harder-to-police criminal landscape. Advertisement Many of those recently arrested for cybercrime offences had 'branched out on their own', using skills they had gained while working at Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos), according to Brigadier General Bernard Yang, head of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group. 'At this point, we cannot really say that these scam activities are still linked to Pogos,' Yang told a media forum on Wednesday. 'Based on our statistics, they probably worked [for them] before, but after Pogos shut down, they picked it up and are now doing it independently.' The former Pogo workers were likely using devices they had retrieved from the scam hubs in their operations, he added. Pogos are gaming firms that cater mainly to overseas Chinese clientele. Raids by local authorities have uncovered their links to alleged crimes such as human trafficking and scams. A police officer (front, centre) talking to foreign nationals after a raid in a scam centre within a complex of buildings in Bamban town of Tarlac province in March last year. Photo: PAOCC/AFP Yang added that based on their recent arrests this year, most of them were Filipinos. A total of 5,099 people were arrested for cybercrimes from January to mid-June. Police said 608 were arrested in entrapment operations, with seven being foreign nationals. The cybercrime chief did not provide a breakdown of arrests made specifically for online scams.
Forbes
19-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Amazon To Cut 1,000 Jobs Due To AI. Now What?
Giant robot flicking tiny man. Ai technologies and unemployment problem concept. Vector ... More illustration. Earlier this week, Amazon announced it would cut 1,000 jobs due to AI. Is anyone surprised? The monster created by Big Tech has begun rising up to consume its creator. Well, perhaps not totally consume, but the damage done could likely be (a) measurable, (b) a harbinger of things to come at Amazon, and (c) a phenomenon we will see far and wide, not just at Amazon. It's inescapable for a few reasons. First, according to data from which monitors tech worker layoffs, already this year 141 companies have laid off 62,832 employees. In 2024, it was 152,922 employees from 551 companies and in 2023, it was 264,220 employees from 1,193 companies. Layoffs, we see, are inevitable – especially in tech. At the onset of new technologies or the introduction of new products, hiring takes place with kid-in-a-candy-store concern for consequences. A year later, things look quite different – and that kid is now an obese diabetic. Now, however, we see a direct cause and effect, unmistakenly traceable to AI, because AI has advanced so quickly that it is now capable of doing many of those lower, entry-level jobs we've long feared it could do. I am reminded of the classic line from the 1960s comic strip Pogo: 'We have met the enemy and it is us.' Make no mistake, though, this is not limited to tech jobs. In May, I posted a column here, 'How AI Affects The Socioeconomic Order Of The Workplace' (5/27) and here's what we saw: Beginner programmers and coders, data analysts, junior paralegals, retail sales associates, content writers, copy editors, graphic artists, and grant writers are among the many who will deal with this reality. There's more, but space and time have limits here. This phenomenon of jobs being eaten by AI will undoubtedly be seen at all tech companies, as they are the creators of this to begin with. But it will spread elsewhere. Picture lava streaming down an erupting volcano. But there's a big upside to this. The World Economic Forum predicts that AI will create 78 million jobs, even after job losses are factored in. So, working the math and going with aggregated and widely-accepted estimations that for every job killed by AI three or four will be created, we come to this: 78 million is the WEF's net number, bringing us to 100 million or more, gross. Thise jobs will just not be the vulnerable entry-level jobs we've been discussing here. It's complicated, no? If I were running a large company, I'd ask for a meeting. In the same room, I'd have the president of the local university or community college, my senator or congressperson, and me. I'd have one item on the agenda: those AI skills we've been teaching for our graduates to find their first jobs need to be relegated to high school and forever be seen as obsolete. AI will forever do them. Next, define the next level of AI jobs and teach them as the new entry level, while teaching other skills – communication, critical thinking, problem solving, etc. – that our new employees would have been developing on he way up. We are past throwing our hands in the air. This is no longer something new or mysterious. 'Success delayed is success denied,' said Ben Franklin. We just simply must take the first step.
South China Morning Post
15-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Up to 10,000 Pogo-linked foreigners remain in Philippines, criticisms mount over inaction
Up to 10,000 foreign nationals linked to the controversial Philippine offshore gaming operations (Pogos) remain in the country despite a ban on the sector last year, with calls from lawmakers mounting to track down those at large and quickly deport them. Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) chief Gilbert Cruz revealed the numbers – mostly Chinese nationals – in the past week to a committee at the House of Representatives overseeing hearings on Pogos and alleged links to human rights violations, scams, and other crimes. '[Enforcement actions against] more than 9,000 illegal foreign workers have been temporarily suspended. Many detainees cannot be deported due to missing passports,' Cruz said, referring to an estimated total that included those at large. This has led to congestion in a detention facility in Pasay, a building converted into a PAOCC office, previously a Pogos hub raided and seized by the commission during last year's crackdown. There are 640 detainees in the facility awaiting deportation. Cruz said the commission was having difficulty funding their food and healthcare needs, with two in custody having died due to illness, while as many as 300 had fallen ill. Without naming other Philippine agencies, Cruz added his side was having difficulty deporting the foreign workers as 'coordination with foreign embassies for travel documents remains slow and inefficient'.
