DICT warns public vs online scams

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Cybersecurity on Wednesday, April 24 warned the public about a scam known as the hijack profile scam or social media account takeover.

The Dict-cybersecurity said that, in a hijack profile scam, cybercriminals are able to gain unauthorized access to a social media account.

They then use the hijacked account to send fake messages to the account owner's friends, requesting money under false pretenses.

"The fraudster may employ a variety of strategies, including social engineering, hacking, and phishing, to obtain access to the profile," DICT Cybersecurity said in a social media post.

"Soon after gaining access, they can pretend to be the account holder and communicate with their contacts by pretending to be in a tough situation and in need of financial assistance," it added.

Meanwhile, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) also cautioned the public against reward scams and urged everyone to refrain from clicking suspicious links.

In a statement, CICC Executive Director Alexander K. Ramos pointed out that said the domain "globeeph. top" was among those preying on vulnerable customers.

"Once customers click the domain, they are required to provide personal details and bank account number to be able to redeem their points," CICC said.