2,700 people tricked into working for cybercrime syndicates rescued in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine security forces say they rescued 2,700 people who had been trafficked and tricked into working for cybercrime syndicates. The number of people rescued and the scale of the raids conducted in metropolitan Manila early Tuesday were the largest so far this year. The raids illustrate how the Philippines has become a key operations base of cybercrime syndicates. Their scams have become a major issue in Asia with people in poor and strife-torn countries being lured into taking jobs only to learn later the work involves criminal activity. Most of those rescued were from the Philippines, but the foreigners came from 17 countries, including China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.