DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental (PIA) – An official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) here urged the public to report to authorities incidents of online scam purchases and profile hijacking as these are forms of cybercrimes.
Police Lt. Gaudioso Morte, chief of the cybercrime division of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office, disclosed in a Kapihan sa PIA forum here that many people are still unaware that they can report these cases to the police for appropriate action.
“Kung nigamit mo og online platform (ug) niabot ang item (dayon) dili mao ang item na ato na-order. Duna toy crime. Adto mo sa opisina kay gamay pa ang niadto sa opisina (para moreklamo) ana. Daghan wala nahibalo nag-exist ng cybercrime (division) sa Negros Oriental. Gusto namo makita kung unsa ang consumer ug na-protect ba namo ug nakatabang ba mi?,” Morte said.
(If you are using an online platform and the item delivered to you was not the same as the item you ordered, then there is already a crime there. You can file a complaint in our office about this. Many people do not know the cybercrime division exists in Negros Oriental. We’d like our consumers to be aware and we’d like to know how we can help them.)
Morte also warned the public on messages requesting for access to a person’s social media account or e-wallet applications, stressing the risk of exposing data that can lead to profile hijacking.
“Illegal access ug online scam. Magkuyog man gud na sila. Ang illegal access masulod na siya hijack profile scam. Kato giingon na mo-take over (sa account), mangayo access sa GCash. Kung profile hijacking, scam gihapon siya so duha ka balaod ang atong ma-file. Never ever share your OTP (one time pin) then please log-out to all social media accounts,” he added, referring to a popular online e-wallet platform.
(Illegal access and online scam always go together. Illegal access can also lead to hijack profile scams. These include messages requesting access to take over your accounts or access to GCash. Profile hijacking is also a form of scam and we can file two cases against the perpetrator. Never ever share your OTP then please log-out to all social media accounts.)
The PNP official also cautioned the public against using lending applications after a reactor during the Kapihan shared that an online lending service company has been harassing a close friend through calls for not being able to pay obligations on time.
The reactor also claimed that the online lending service company also called other contacts of the close friend.
Morte said it is also important that consumers or users of these online services should read carefully the details of their application and not just clicking the “accept” button hastily, since there is a clause there asking the application to allow access to the contacts inside the phonebook.
He said the victim can file for a violation of the Data Privacy Act as course of action on this.
Morte also emphasized that it is important that people also practice proper cyber hygiene to avoid being tricked by these fraudulent schemes.
“We must learn how to log out sa atong social media account. Every time mag-change ta sa atong passwords then follow sa two-authentication factor for safety para kung naay incursion maka-react dayon ka,” he said.
(We must learn how to log out from our social media accounts. We should also change passwords every time and follow the two-authentication factor for safety so that if there are incursions you can react immediately.)
The PNP cybercrime division chief said their office is open to addressing these complaints.
Their office is located at the PNP provincial headquarters in Sibulan town with contact numbers 0919-089-6153 or 0917-628-6803. (RAL/PIA7-Negros Oriental)
