Man arrested in Valenzuela for selling SIM cards with cash app accounts

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MANILA, Philippines — A 40-year-old man allegedly selling SIM cards with verified GCash accounts on his Facebook account was arrested in Valenzuela City on Monday afternoon, according to the Philippine National Police – Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG).

In a report on Tuesday, PNP said that personnel of the Northern District Anti-Cybercrime Team and Valenzuela City Police Station conducted an entrapment operation and successfully arrested suspect Arthur Lugagay along MacArthur Highway in Barangay Karuhatan at around 3 p.m.

This was in response to an anonymous report of a case of online scamming last February 2, where the caller told the police that they were scammed by an account on Facebook Marketplace selling SIM cards with allegedly verified GCash accounts for P1,500 each.

After validating that Lugagay’s Facebook account was selling and processing such SIM cards, PNP-ACG said that an entrapment operation against him was conducted for alleged violations of the SIM Registration Act, among others.

Police said they confiscated cash, SIM cards, and a smartphone from the suspect’s possession.

Lugagay is currently under the Valenzuela City Police Station’s custody. — Barbara Gutierrez, INQUIRER.net intern