Identity theft, scams via social media on the rise
MANILA — The Philippine National Police AntiCybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) reminded the public to be cautious in giving personal information online, clicking suspicious website links or downloading file attachments from dubious sources after noting that cyber identity theft cases rose by 12.2 percent last year.
PNP- ACG director Maj. Gen. Sydney Hernia said in a statement that the ACG logged 1,597 cyber identity theft cases in 2023, up from 1,402 cases in 2022.
As defined in Republic Act No. 10175, or t he Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, computer- related identity theft is the intentional acquisition, use, misuse, transfer, possession, alteration or deletion of identifying information, such as name, birthday, telephone number, credit card information of another person in order to commit fraud or other crimes.
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) also said on Thursday that individuals victimized by identity theft could file a complaint at their office, providing another official channel where victims of such crimes could seek help from the government.
“The complaints and investigation division will evaluate the complaint and ask for evidence as needed,” Roren Marie Chin, chief at the NPC’s public information and assistance division, said in a message sent to the Inquirer.
“Currently, our commission has received only inquiries pertaining to stolen IDs and identity theft. There has not been any formal complaint submitted to date,” she added.
Scammers have found a way to shift to social media after the SIM (subscriber identity module) registration law was implemented, according to Col. Jay Guillermo, the PNPACG cyber response unit chief.
But despite the increase of cyber identity theft cases, he said the numbers were not alarming.
“Roughly, we have 88
million social media users and with the increase of over 200 ( cases), it’s not so alarming,” he said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Guillermo said social media users should regularly update passwords on all their online accounts to make it difficult to crack for hackers.
He also warned the public about a scheme called “love scam” wherein criminals use fake accounts to build relationships with vulnerable social media users. These scammers later ask for money or ask their victims to invest in cryptocurrency.
In October last year, the PNPACG reported the arrest of two suspects involved in a “love scam.”
It said the case stemmed from a complaint filed by a 72-year-old widow from Batangas City who
had fallen victim to a fraudulent online relationship that left her emotionally and financially devastated.
According to the police, the woman encountered on Facebook a person named “Evans Maxwell,” a supposedly American national who seemed genuinely interested in her.
Over time, the PNP- ACG said the impersonator skillfully manipulated her trust and affection, persuading her to send a total of P1.9 million for alleged travel documentation—a manager’s check worth P700,000 to an individual named “Louie John Pete re” and another P1.2 million through a money remittance service to “Laiden Petere,” following the instructions of her online companion.
But when her “boyfriend,” whom she had never met in person, asked for an additional $20,000, the PNP-ACG said the widow finally realized she had fallen prey to a “love scam.”
Various government agencies have been warning the public to be wary of cyberscams that come in many forms and have been around for years.
As far back as 2016, the PNPACG said it arrested in Quezon City a female college student for “identity theft” after posing as either celebrity Maricel LaxaPangilinan or her children to extort money from the Pangilinan family’s friends and supporters.
It said the suspect created fake Facebook accounts using the names, pictures, and personal circumstances of Laxa-Pangilinan and her four children.
Using the individual fake accounts of Laxa-Pangilinan and her children, the police said the suspect communicated with friends and relatives of the celebrity endorser and asked them to donate money for her outreach program.