Moment Philippines call centre allegedly scamming Aussies is raided

Video has captured the moment a call centre allegedly linked to multimillion-dollar scams targeting Australians was raided.

A call centre allegedly linked to multimillion-dollar scams targeting Australians’ superannuation has been raided in the Philippines.

Australian cybercrime investigator Ken Gamble of IFW Global was there when armed officers burst into the Manila call centre on Friday.

Mr Gamble told ABC’s 7.30 program, he has six Australian clients who claim to have lost $3.3 million in two scams allegedly linked to the call centre.

“We’re alleging that this operation is part of a big scam … and they are stealing the superannuation off Australian victims,” he said.

“We’ve come here today to observe the anti-cybercrime group conducting a lawful search warrant on the premises.”

The Philippines call centre alleged to have been scamming Australians. Picture: ABC

Mr Gamble said the people in the call centre were allegedly pretending to be from Australia.

“They were (allegedly) purporting to be from Melbourne, we saw scripts up on the screen,” he said.

“I actually got to talk to one of the agents and he took me right through the script from the start to the end, and explained to me the process of how they talk to Australians and how they get them to give information up about their superannuation.”

Video footage shows the moment the Mr Gamble and officers from the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group burst into the call centre.

Dozens of staff put their hands above their heads and covered their faces.

One man could be heard telling Mr Gamble they were surveying Australians to see if they are interested in investing. Another admitted they said they were calling from Australia.

Video shows the tense moment the call centre was raided with men jumping out of a van out the front. Picture: ABC

Authorities are now looking through seized computers.

7.30 reported police also raided the Manila home of a British man allegedly involved in running the call centre. His possible links to the scams targeting Australians are under investigation and no charges have been laid.

The program said one scam had “cloned” or misused real details without permission from a company controlled by financial giant AMP.

In a statement provided to news.com.au the Australian Securities & Investments Commission confirmed it had investigations open with “some at an advanced stage”.

“ASIC wrote to AMP last year alerting it to the potential misuse of Australian Securities Administration Limited’s name and Australian Financial Services Licence,” ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said. “Following this, AMP published a warning on its website.

“ASIC also issued its own warning about these types of scams in May last year highlighting the need for consumers to exercise great caution whenever contacted to open a SMSF account, and to always seek independent, trustworthy advice.”

Mr Gamble asked a call centre worker if they were pretending to be from Australia. Picture: ABC

“These matters are a powerful reminder that Australians need to treat contact by any third parties in relation to their investment and superannuation choices with the maximum caution,” Ms Court said.

“Financial scams are becoming more frequent and increasingly sophisticated with the use of company impersonation and leverage of access to some personal details to gain trust – all of which contribute to enhancing the appearance of legitimacy.”

The Australian Federal Police said ASIC requested police help with search warrants in relation to the scam in June last year.

On August 12 last year, the AFP executed search warrants at three premises in the greater Melbourne area.

“There were a number of evidentiary items seized during the searches; these were transferred to ASIC for further assessment,” an AFP spokeswomen said, adding AFP has had no further involvement.

news.com.au has contacted IFW Global for comment.

Tactics deployed by scammers targeting superannuation

• Contacting people by email or a cold call, pretending to be financial advisers, and encourage them to transfer their superannuation into a new SMSF. The investor is often promised high returns of 8 per cent to 20 per cent (or more) per annum.

• Reassuring investors by using company names, email addresses and websites that are similar to legitimate Australian companies that hold an Australian financial services licence.

• Using a ‘legitimate’ company to ensure the SMSF is established and compliant with Australian laws, including the creation of a separate SMSF bank account set up in the investor’s name.

• Then the scammers transfer money from the existing super fund, either with or without the knowledge of the investor. They use the identification documents provided to set up the SMSF in an account fully controlled by the scammers.

Originally published as Moment Philippines call centre allegedly scamming Aussies is raided