CEBU CITY – The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Central Visayas raided a call center in Subangdaku, Mandaue City on Monday night for allegedly selling fake Viagra and other medicines online.
Representatives of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer went to the CIDG national headquarters in Manila to report the alleged activity.
When the 724 Care call center was raided at 10 p.m. Monday, the authorities confiscated different devices and hardware, using a search warrant issued by Judge Marino de la Cruz Jr. of the National Capital Region (NCR).
Lawyer Dominador Cafe, the call center’s legal counsel, denied that the company sells fake Viagra and other medicines.
He said they do not sell medicine online, but provide assistance with insurance, surveys and “med on-call” or medical rescue teams in some parts of the United States.
Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa of the Anti-Transnational Cyber Crime Division of CIDG-Manila, together with elements of CIDG, raided the establishment, which has almost a hundred employees.
Cafe and Sosa reportedly argued during the raid because the police wanted to hold some of the employees. The lawyer suggested letting the call center agents go as they were already tired after their shift.
Still, the employees were reportedly held inside the establishment for nearly five hours.
Cafe clarified the call center does not sell Viagra or any medicine online. He also questioned why the search warrant used was from the NCR and not a local court.
Sosa, on the other hand, said they were just following protocol.
“The raid was based on valid evidences. The judge would not have issued the search warrant if it was not specific,” said Sosa.
The search warrant authorized the confiscation of hardware used in the alleged transactions. These included a router, hard drives, modems, desktops, keyboards, servers, LAN cables, and storage hardware devices.
The confiscated items were forwarded to the Anti-Transnational Cyber Crime Division in Lahug, Cebu City for investigation.
Charges of violating Republic Act 8484 or the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 may be filed against the call center company, if the evidence warrants it.
According to its website www.724care.org, 724 Care is an outbound call center that specializes in outbound appointment settings, as well as inbound sales and order-taking services.
“The raid caused a big loss to the company, taking away hundreds of thousands of pesos,” said Café.
The call center reportedly belongs to a Canadian national married to a Filipina. Café said the call center has been operating for five years.
According to its website (www.pfizer.com), Pfizer Global Security conducted a survey in May last year to find out how many online pharmacies in the United States were selling fake Viagra. Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is a prescription drug for men with erectile dysfunction. The survey reportedly showed that 81 percent of the top 26 sites were selling “dangerous fakes” of the famous blue pill. (JBT of Sun.Star Cebu)
