It’s a Friday morning inside a Philippines call centre on the eastern outskirts of Metro Manila, and dozens of staff are calling Australians.
This call centre is allegedly linked to sophisticated multi-million-dollar scams which have targeted Australians for their retirement nest eggs.
The ABC’s 7.30 program can reveal details of one scam which “cloned” or misused real details without permission from a company controlled by financial giant AMP.
Victims say the cloning and other deceptive tactics made the scam appear like a legitimate financial advice firm that was regulated in Australia.
The scam has triggered multiple ongoing investigations in Australia, with corporate watchdog ASIC confirming “some are at an advanced stage”.
Inside the Manila call centre, staff are seated close together in rows.
Wearing headsets, they read detailed scripts to gather sensitive information about the lifestyles, spending patterns and interest in investing of people thousands of kilometres away.
The phone operators are about to get a rude shock.
The Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group is ready to raid the call centre.
There to observe the raid is Australian cyber-crime investigator Ken Gamble. He travelled to Manila on behalf of Australian victims, who hired him to track down the people allegedly involved in the elaborate scams.
“We’re alleging…
