(14 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Manila, Philippines – 14 February 2025
1. Wide of joint press conference of Philippine and Australian Federal Police officials
2. Philippines Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and Kathleen Oehlers of the Australian Federal Police
3. Close of sign on screen reading (English) "Joint Media release between Australian Federal Police, National Anti-Scam Centre, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, and National Bureau of Investigation"
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Kathleen Oehlers, Australian Federal Police:
“That’s the MO (Modus Operandi) of these centers. They are designed to look for vulnerabilities and target potential victims. So they will be on dating apps accessible to Filipinos, Australians, New Zealanders. They will find appropriate people and engage in conversation with them.”
5. Close of Australian Federal Police patch on Oehlers’ uniform
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Kathleen Oehlers, Australian Federal Police:
“As a general figure in Australia we’ve found that Australians have lost up to 24 million dollars to love scams."
(Reporter: "Last year?”)
Oehlers: "Last year."
7. Cutaway to cameras
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Kathleen Oehlers, Australian Federal Police:
“Five thousand numbers that we found just in that scam center – so that is why we have contacted all those numbers so hopefully if they are currently being scammed we were able to inform them so that they could stop sending money. If they had been scammed they can reach out to us. We don’t know the full extent yet, we are still accessing the results of that initiative.”
9. Cruz shaking hands with Oehlers at end of press conference
STORYLINE:
Australian and Philippine authorities took steps on Valentine’s Day to help would-be victims avoid hurting their “hearts and bank accounts” in online love scams.
The Australian Federal Police, with the help of Filipino authorities, on Friday publicized online actual dialogues used by an online love scam syndicate, which had been dismantled in the Philippines, to help foster vigilance.
“The Australian Federal Police is flipping the script on romance scammers this Valentine’s Day by revealing real-life dialogue used to target the bank accounts _ and hearts _ of thousands of potential victims online,” a joint statement by the Australian police, the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission and other law enforcement agencies said.
Philippine authorities raided the syndicate’s hideout near Manila in October, arrested more than 250 mostly Chinese suspected members and seized computers and other gadgets used in the online fraud.
After an investigation, Australian and Philippine police found out that the syndicate had attempted to victimize about 5,000 people in Australia alone.
They are now in the process of checking how many of those Australians have already been defrauded, Australian Federal Police officer Kathleen Oehlers said in a news conference in Manila with Philippine anti-crime officials.
According to Oehlers, about $15 million ($24 million Australian dollars) have been lost to such online love scams from victims in Australia last year alone.
Under the scheme, the suspects would hunt for potential victims, mostly fully employed males, in online dating Apps then use romantic dialogues to develop a whirlwind romance online.
A victim would later be encouraged by a scammer under cover of a fake picture and identity to invest in cryptocurrency initially with relatively small amounts then shift the funds later to the syndicate’s account, Oehlers said.
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