PNP warns public vs ‘Tokhang’ call scam

The Philippine National Police (PNP) advised the public yesterday to be vigilant against new scam which it tagged as “Tokhang” telecom fraud in which an anonymous caller would demand money from victims who are told that they are supposedly included in the police drugs watch list.

Through the Public Information Office (PNP-PIO), Director General Oscar Albayalde, PNP Chief, revealed that the Tokhang telecom fraud apparently originating from Oplan Tokhang (knock and plead), victimizes citizens by first informing them of their alleged involvement in the narco-list.

According to the PNP, Tokhang telecom fraud scammers use technology to modify what phone numbers appear on their victims’ caller ID.

The suspects then mimic phone numbers from local police stations or other law enforcement agencies while informing their target victims that they have supposedly been implicated in illegal drugs.

The suspects would then direct their target victims to dial some phone numbers to verify the drug involvement – which would later involve the payment of money to settle the issue.

As such, the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) issued several precautionary steps to avoid being victimized by the Tokhang telecom fraud.

According to the PNP-ACG, the public should avoid answering calls from unregistered phone numbers unless the caller will send first a message providing their identity.

Authorities also advised the public to refrain from giving their personal or financial information to other persons.

Authorities also said that should an individual encounter a suspected scam message or phone call, they should save the text messages or the number used by the scammer.

“Report the [text message and phone number] to the nearest PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group office or police station in your location,” the PNP-ACG said.

For reports of encounters with Tokhang telecom fraud scammers, the PNP-ACG can be reached through its telephone hotline: 02-414-1560.