BEWARE of fake news for views.
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Mel Robles issued this warning to the public on Friday (February 14) as another fake news story circulated on social media, claiming that the agency’s database had been hacked by an obscure group of hackers.
In a statement, GM Robles categorically described the report as fake news, stressing that there was never a breach in any of the official sites or databases of the PCSO.
He explained: “This is fake news. There was no breach nor any successful attempt to hack the systems of PCSO. We have not reported anything to the DICT because nothing has happened.”
GM Robles continued: “Relax, today is Valentine’s Day, and don’t let it be ruined by some groups who are out to besmirch or cast doubt on the integrity of our games. It’s too early for April Fool’s Day, so let us not easily fall for it.”
“While there have been numerous attempts in the past to hack our system coming from all over the world, our digital defenses are holding out and remain impregnable,” he stressed.
He was disputing an online news report that the PCSO and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) were reportedly investigating a claim of an alleged breach of the data of lotto winners.
GM Robles emphasized that the news report came from an alleged group of hackers who were obviously attempting to make a name for themselves by claiming that they were able to breach the PCSO system.
The PCSO chief was, however, quick to clarify that none of their accounts was attacked or compromised.
He added that what the post was simply saying is that the group was able to obtain email accounts of PCSO employees, most probably the email accounts of branch office personnel from the Cagayan Branch, based on the screenshots attached to the post.
GM Robles pointed out that it was a list of individuals who availed themselves of the promo at the PCSO branch in March 2022, and not the names of winners, whether of jackpot or consolation prizes.
The picture of a woman holding tickets is proof that the promo tickets were availed of by “real” people; thus, the information published by the hackers actually belongs to the recipients of a promo at a branch in Cagayan in March 2022, and not to lotto winners.
“Our database for the lotto jackpot winners is safe in the head office. The branch offices are not connected to the head office.”
GM Robles had previously dismissed the claims, stating that the systems and sites of the government-owned and controlled corporation are secure.
“I have just checked, and at the moment, none of our websites are compromised, breached, or hacked,” Robles stressed.
