An official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Dumaguete City 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 that many people are still unaware that they can report these cases to the police for appropriate action.
“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 said.
Morte also warned the public on messages requesting 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 and online scams always go together. Illegal access can also lead to hijack profile scams. These include messages requesting access to take over your accounts or access. Profile hijacking is also a form of scam, and we can file two cases against the perpetrator. Never ever share your [one-time pin], then please log out to all social media accounts,” he added, referring to a popular online e-wallet platform.
The PNP official also cautioned the public against using lending applications after a reactor during the Kapihan shared that an online lending service company had 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 a 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 a 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 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,” he said.
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. (PIA-7 Negros Oriental)