CICC, DOJ, Maya discuss most common online scams in the PH
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and online bank Maya discussed the most common online scams in the Philippines.
The discussion occurred at the PNP Cybercrime Hub in Taguig during the Protecta Pilipinas launch event.
READ: The most common job scams in the PH
Article continues after this advertisementThe panel consisted of CICC Director Rojun Hosillos, DOJ Office of Cybercrime Chief Prosecutor Rodan Parrocha, and Maya’s Head of Government and Regulatory Relations Kristoffer Rada.
What are the most popular online scams in the PH?
Parrocha listed the most common online scams at the event:
- Phishing Scams
- Identity Theft
- Ransomware Attacks
- Online Shopping Scams
- Tech Support Scams
- Social Media Scams
- Investment and Crypto Scams
- Romance Scams
Learn more about these schemes at Inquirer Tech, starting with this report.
Article continues after this advertisementOnline scams are becoming more advanced
The panelists expressed concerns over more sophisticated phishing and online shopping scams.
“A lot of our people are experiencing text messages that are supposedly from legitimate service providers,” CICC Director Rojun Hosillos said.
“We have several theories kung bakit nagkakaroon ng ganun. One is the ‘tower hijacking’ of the telcos by using rogue transceiver stations.”
(We have several theories regarding this issue. One is the ‘tower hijacking’ of the telcos by using rogue transceiver stations.)
“They pretend to be towers of telcos. These are roving vans that capture your International Mobile Subscriber Identification (IMSI)…and they can send you messages that seemingly come from the telcos but actually come from them,” he added.
Parrocha shared a story about two online shopping scam victims.
The first could not contact a seller after ordering flowers online for ₱3,500.
The second bought a refrigerator for ₱17,000 and then went to the seller to pick it up.
Unfortunately, they realized they had no communication. The person was talking and sending money to a scammer posing as the seller.
Head of Government and Regulatory Relations at Maya Kristoffer Rada reminded the public that scammers have become more sophisticated.
Their messages have none of the common hallmarks of scam messages, such as bad grammar.
Moreover, “they are able to spoof a message and pretend that it comes from a financial institution.“
That is why Maya reminds users not to click on links.
Atty. Roy Ibay, founder and lead convenor of Protecta Pilipinas, said telcos have already removed the link function from financial institutions and wallets.
Rada reiterated that the public should read notifications carefully to avoid falling victim to online scams.
