2 nabbed in crackdown on telecom syndicate

A Korean woman and her alleged Filipino accomplice were arrested in separate police operations against an international syndicate that caused a telecom giant to lose millions of pesos in revenues by making overseas calls register as domestic calls.

The National Capital Region Police Office on Friday announced the arrest of Yooun Nayong, 37, in a condominium on Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City, and Carlo Dadulla, 21, in another condo unit in Bagong Barrio, Caloocan City, following a complaint from Globe Telecom.

They face charges for violating the Access Device Regulation Act of 1998, after they were caught in possession of modems, cell phones, laptops, hundreds of Globe and Touch Mobile subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, and other equipment believed to be used to bypass Globe’s system and “convert” overseas calls into local calls.

In a press conference at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, NCRPO spokesperson Chief Insp. Kimberly Molitas Gonzales said the two suspects catered mostly to callers based in Korea.

Globe-NCR representative Gerald Bechayda explained that using devices such as those confiscated from the two, the syndicate allows calls to bypass Globe’s international gateway facility.

An information technology consultant explained that the syndicate offers a “hotline” that is printed on call cards which are then sold abroad by brokers. The hotline gives instructions on how to call the syndicate’s Philippine operations.

When the Philippine operators receive the call, they use Globe SIM cards to forward the call to the local recipient.

“If sometimes you receive international calls reflected as local mobile numbers, this system is what they use,” the IT expert said, adding that the syndicate earns by having a share of the profit from the call cards’ sales.

Globe reported that since November last year, the company had been losing about P3.4 million in revenues because of this modus operandi.