Sextortion in the Philippines With Mariana Van Zeller

National Geographic's television show Trafficked: Underworlds with Mariana Van Zeller features the host traveling around the world documenting the dark underbelly of society. In season 4 episode 2 Mariana investigates sextortion. The trail leads her to the Philippines.

The program begins in Utah where Mariana discusses the case of a teenager named Jake. He was contacted on Facebook by a beautiful woman.  But she did not want to play unless he sent her a full body nude picture. He saved their conversation which went as follows:

Scammer: Take a full body nude photo and then we can play.  

Jake: How do I know I cont trust you?  

Scammer: We are just going to play no need for trust issues. 

Of course the scammer immediately threatens to send his picture to all his friends and family unless he wires money. Jake begs them to stop but they refuse. Jake then kills himself. 

But thankfully he saved all the messages and in his suicide note he told his mom to check the messages so she can find the address to where he wired money. It is the Philippines. 

Mariana Van Zeller hopes to track down Jake's extortionist who is using the name Mariz Abril. She meets a contact, a journalist who investigates cybercrime. He describes sextortion as: 

This is a calling, a passion this is no easy job. Becasue it's risky, really risky. 

Mariana asks her contact:

Why is the Philippines such a center of sextortion?

He says:

First thing, we're an English speaking country. They are familiar on how to befriend to build the trust and relationship to their victims. Number two, they can easily work without authorities noticing them. 

She then makes her way to Angeles City and talks to a trans dancer named Yumi. 

Yumi turned to scamming during the pandemic. She befriended an older German man online. When he suggested they get sexy she started recording. Yumi then threatened to send the video to his wife and son if he did not send money. He sent the money but not everyone has though she has not followed through on her threats to spread the photos and videos.

Mariana then follows the trail to Bulacan where she speaks with "Claudia." She is not a lone wolf but works as a scammer in a large organization with cubicles and management. This is where she segues into talking about the Queen of Sextortion, Maria Caparas.

On her hunt for Maria she talks with a man named Jamie who worked for her. 

Before the pandemic he participated in transsexual pageants for money. During the lockdown he turned to sextortion. 

During the pandemic I didn’t have a heart because at that time I did not have savings. I had absolutely no money. I was really super evil. That’s how I was. I didn’t have a heart for them. Even if you would die in front of me, I wouldn’t care as long as I get what I want.

It was Maria Cabereras who taught him the sextortion racket. 

Someone came to our place. A woman. This Woman was very rich. She became like a mother to us, a “madam.” She was the one who taught us how to do the scam. 

Mariana Van Zeller then drives to North Hill hoping to find Maria Caparas. Before setting out she talks to a man named "Peter" who is a government official who has "witnessed the corruptive power of the sextortion industry first-hand."

Mariana: You don’t want your face shown.

Peter: The far reach of the criminal syndicates can be very…how would you put it? 

Mariana: Dangerous? 

Peter: Mhmm. Even in the level of government, you can never really tell who is taking pay, who is taking cuts. And everyone is involved from the local level up to the mid-level government executives, and then I believe high up. 

Peter has more to say about corrupt politicians being complicit in the sextortion industry. 

In terms of corruption level, I guess we’re turning into Mexico and Colombia in so far as extortion is concerned. That’s what I fear the most. 

They invest in their security. They invest heavily on firepower. Rubbing elbows with bigwig politicians around our jurisdiction and other provinces as well. So, her power and influences just goes far reaching. 

Driving into North Hill Mariana is worried about appearing conspicuous. Even so she asks a random woman on a motorcycle where Maria Caparas lives. The woman says follow me and takes her to City Hall where she can find residential records. The women on duty say Maria does not live in town anymore but her sister does. They agree to take Mariana to meet Maria's sister but then one of the women makes a phone call. 

It turns out to be a bust as the local producer says they have to leave town as everyone is alarmed by the cameras and the cops want to know what they are doing. But it's not a total loss as Mariana finds a contact in the Bulacan Jail named Diego who has been involved with sextortion. 

Diego claims he watched one of the men he was sextorting kill himself on camera. 

Mariana: We spent time in the Untied States with families who lost their sons because they committed suicide because of sextortion.

Diego: Really? 

Mariana: You never heard of this? No one ever said, "I'm going to kill myself if you continue asking me for money, blackmailing me?"

Diego: Yes

Mariana: Did they kill themselves?

Diego: Yes

Mariana: They died?

Diego: Yes

Mariana: How did you find out he killed himself? 

Diego: Because the camera of his laptop was on. 

Mariana: Oh my god that's horrible. And you saw it happening? 

Diego: Yes.

Mariana: What did you say? Didn't you ask him to stop?

Diego: We chatted him, but he set up a rope and committed suicide. 

Only Diego knows if that is a truthful confession but Mariana appears to believe and its shock value certainly makes for good television. 

And that is really it. This 45 minute program is nothing but a shock piece. Sure there is a massive problem in the Philippines with cybercrime including sextortion. But the online child exploitation market is bigger. Mariana says:

Combating sextortion requires updated legislation, significant resources, and collaboration between law enforcement agencies around the world. But these things rarely happen, so these crimes continue. As does the pain they cause. 

Actually, these things DO happen. Fighting online child sex abuse is a multi-country effort in the Philippines. Therefore it should be easy to combat sextortion. However, as Mariana van Zeller notes, the Queen of sextortion, Maria Caparas, has been arrested many times but is ALWAYS inexplicably released. Obviously she has help from people higher up the food chain. 

The difference between sextortion and online child sexual abuse is the difference between people who foolishly and willingly send their nudes to strangers and children who are forced into being abused. At no point in this story does Mariana suggest people should stop sending nudes to strangers on the internet. Just think right now how many pictures of nude white men are being sent through the ether and into the Philippines. It is rather hilarious to think the Philippines is bombarded with the digital signals of nude white men.

Children Steal Internet Cables

Children running amuck. Hanging cables causing problems. It's the hallmarks of Philippinefails. A barangay in Manila claims they lost internet connectivity because children, "youths," were stealing cables from utility poles. 

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/metro/880229/barangay-in-manila-loses-internet-due-to-youths-stealing-cables-from-utility-pole/story/

A number of residents of a barangay in Manila have been left without internet connectivity after some of the youth in the area stole cables from a utility pole, which then fell into the street.

According to Barangay 410 Kagawad Froilan Dela Cruz, a utility pole—servicing local telecommunications firms—fell due to some of the youth in the area stealing cables. Some of the cables have been left lying on the street.

Prior to the incident, the barangay apprehended some six of the youth in the area, four of whom were minors and were since released. They were said to have been cutting the cables and selling them.

(There were some youths stealing the cable and when they cut the cables, they dangled. These were then pulled down further by passing cars.

We are among those still without internet. I have a child working from home.)

GMA Integrated News is still trying to reach out to the concerned telecommunication firm.

For its part, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) warned motorists to take caution in areas with hanging cables, even as it clarified that its poles are usually higher and thicker.

"We always tell the drivers of big vehicles, may they be a truck or any other huge vehicles plying the roads, to take caution," Meralco vice president and head of corporate communication Joe Zaldarriaga said.

So, these children pulled down cables causing them to dangle and passing cars pulled them down further? What kind of driver just mindlessly drives into low hanging electrical wires? 

The comment of Meralco vice president and head of corporate communication Joe Zaldarriaga is totally ridiculous. He admits they are constantly warning vehicles to be wary of low hanging wires. But there shouldn't be any low hanging wires!

Take note the "children" were selling these wires.  That means it's a whole ecosystem of theft. Who is stupid enough to believe these children were acting alone?

PLDT Installers Leave Trash Everywhere

PLDT has been in and out of my neighbourhood installing internet and phone service. Every single time they do an installation they leave a mess of clipped wires and plastic widgets.

Every.  Single. Time.

There they are installing the internet. One up on a ladder and another down on the ground.

See the wire in the bushes? Like a snake in the grass.

A hook jus left on the street.

Wires all over the road.

Two views of the same pile of little doo-dads left all over the street.

Why? Why do these installers not give two flips about the mess they leave.  I watch them each time and I collect that garbage and tell them, "Hey you forgot this." They take it and never say anything but why do I have to give it to them?

Did their supervisors tell them to leave extra wires and plastic tabs where they fall?

It's pathetic.

Sorry Sir, We Are Now Offline

I decided to stop off at a Globe store to pay my phone and internet bill. Not wanting to stop at the  busy mall I visited a tiny out of the way store where there is usually not a crowd.

The doorman handed me a number and I sat down to wait. Number 9. Third in line. The first person was done transacting business shortly after I arrived. The next customer took about 10 minutes to process whatever he was doing.

Then number 8 was called.  I have no idea what he was doing but he pulled out all of his receipts and dumped them on the counter looking for something. Finally after about 15 minutes he pulls out a 1000 peso bill and his transaction looks as if it is almost over.  

But then the lights flashed and the roar of the air-conditioner became silent.

A power outage!  A POWER OUTAGE! 

I asked the cashier, "Did the power just go out. Will I still be able to pay my bill."

"Sorry sir, we are now offline but you can come back later."

"So I just wasted 30 minutes for nothing!!!", I shouted and stormed out.

I had to walk back to the store because I left with my numbered ticket. I will never return to that store.  It's actually not the first time this has happened. There have been a few instances when I have arrived at opening time only to be told they are offline and please come back later. 

Why don't they have generators or some way to insure they are never offline or only briefly? It's bad for the customer and the business as it stops work completely.

Globe Telecom Follies

For two years now I have been using Globe landline and WiFi services. Mostly it's been pretty smooth sailing.  Not a lot of dropped time or slow service.

But it did not start out that way.

When they first installed the WiFi it was extremely slow. Several calls to customer service got nowhere.  It was always the same old thing.  Turn off the router.  Count to ten. Turn it back on. Do a speed test and tell us the results. Tales of how they are upgrading service or working on the towers and that's the reason everything is slow. Technicians came by more than a few times and they were left scratching their heads.

Finally, after so many calls, the head technician was sent over to investigate.  He took out his tools and ran all his tests.  Same results.  So then he goes outside and takes a look at the antenna and he just about goes apopoletic.

The root cause of all the trouble was that the original installers did not install the antenna correctly.  

They installed it on the side of the house!

He called them up and ordered them over but they pleaded it was lunch time and that they would eat first and also that they needed to find a ladder long enough to reach the roof.  The excuse they gave for not properly installing the antenna was that they did not have a long enough ladder.  

The head technician was not hearing it and he threatened to call them out on it to management if they did not come over right away and properly reinstall the antenna.

So they did.

And there hasn't been any problems with the Wi-Fi since.

Do you know what this means?  It means that every single time the representatives from Globe were giving out wrong and faulty information. Working on the towers?  Turn the router on and off?  It was all bunk!  Even the technicians who came over at first to investigate but did not care to look at where the antenna was placed were spouting nonsense. One time Globe said we could get an extra 50GB a month for free.  So we signed up for it and when the new month rolled around we used up all our data very quickly. We called them asking what happened because now we have 50GB of data. Turns out we did not have 50GB because that program is not offered in our area! So why did they even offer it to us if it's not available?

I don't even understand why installing the antenna on the side of the house was causing problems.  Shouldn't the device still be able to pick up signals? Is the Globe Wi-Fi singnal so weak that the antenna must be on the roof?  I can use my cellphone inside the house with no problems and without having to climb up on the roof to get reception. What's up with that?