The Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) has raised the alarm on crimes committed online, particularly “cybersex” related crimes.
Reported cybercrime cases have been steadily increasing over the years, since the creation of the PNP-ACG in 2013 in line with the passage of the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
In its first year, the ACG handled 161 cases, which ballooned to 559 in 2014 and to 1,098 in 2015, said PNP-ACG head Senior Supt. Guillermo Eleazar.
Cybercrimes include cyberpornography, cybersex, online illegal gambling, credit card fraud, identity theft and “sextortion,” among others.
“Either the commission of cybercrimes has been increasing, or people are just more aware now that they can report it to the police,” Eleazar said in a press conference at PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
The PNP-ACG expressed particular concern on the rise of cybersex-related crimes, after the police unit arrested 58 suspects for such crimes in Bulacan, Bicol, Laguna and Metro Manila in 2014 alone.
Tondo, Cabanatuan dens
In the past two weeks, the PNP busted a cyber-prostitution den operated by transwomen in Tondo, Manila, in which five people were arrested, and another fronting as an online marketing firm in Cabanatuan City, in which 27 people were arrested.
The raid on TLS Synergy Group in Cabanatuan proved particularly alarming, as the chat operators were found to have been keeping recordings of lewd video chats, which Eleazar said could be used in the future for “sextortion” attempts.