CIDG, Globe monitoring other bogus info service agencies

CEBU, Philippines - The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-7 and Globe Telecommunications, in coordination with the International Simple Resale are now monitoring other fraudulent information service agencies in Cebu City.

Ricardo Gatchalian, head of the security division of the ISR in the Visayas, said they are monitoring other service agencies which are into the same illegal activity but refused to give further details.

“Here in Cebu, we cannot divulge any information on the next operation,” Gatchalian said.

He added that Globe Telecommunications was defrauded and they will be pursuing the case until the end with the help of the CIDG-7.

He admitted that they monitored the same modus operandi in Lapu-Lapu City but during operation, it turned out negative.

“I do not know if the persons we monitored in Lapu-Lapu were the same persons apprehended now,” he said.

He added that the intellectual capacity of the people is upgrading in terms of their ability to do such crime.

“With the use of our system we could detect them but we do not inflict our own people in this,” Gatchalian said.

Meanwhile, a criminal case of Republic Act 8484 or the Access Device Regulation Act was filed yesterday by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-7 against Rebecca Paracuelles and Argie Avendula before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

The two alleged operators of a fraudulent information service agency were arrested at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday at Don Pedro Cui St., Barangay San Antonio, by virtue of a search warrant issued by Judge Eric Menchavez of the Regional Trial Court Branch 21.

During the implementation of the warrant, CIDG operatives confiscated Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) machines, laptops, computer monitors, modems, cellular phones, telephones sets and subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.

Globe Telecommunications complained earlier that they were not able to make outbound calls. Globe Telecom Visayas Security Operations Specialist, Jojo Viray, said they found out that the said agency diverts the international calls to its own system making it a local call.

With that, he said their company suffered over P3 million losses since 2011 when the agency started its operation.  (FREEMAN)