The Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit in Davao Region (Racu-Davao) said online scams are the top cybercrime in the region.

In a press conference on June 2, 2023 at the University of Mindanao Matina Campus, Racu-Davao Chief PCol. Ricardo Punzalan said that online scams are rampant in the region, with phishing as the most number of cases.

“We advise the public na wag niyo nalang buksan, if there’s a link that parang nag-i-encourage sa inyo na i-open to certain link and then you will become a fallen victim sa phishing na ginagawa nila (don’t open any links that you will receive to avoid being one of the victims),” he said.

Aside from this, Punzalan said one of the top cybercrimes is illegal access to devices and social media platforms or hacking.

Punzalan added that although this case existed, it is not yet “alarming”.

“Hindi naman siya very alarming ang mga hacking incidents dito (hacking incidents here in Davao Region is not that very alarming),” he said.

This concern has been raised following a series of hacking incidents on the government's Facebook pages in the region.

In April 2023, the Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office’s (CTTMO) Facebook page became a victim of a hacking incident and a few days later, another FB page of a government office in Digos City was hacked.

However, Racu-Davao was not able to provide data on the number of cases, but he said there were only isolated cases.

Meanwhile, Davao City Anti-Scam Unit (Asu) head Simplicio Sagarino said that they are still receiving complaints of the same cybercrime incidents like online scams – investment schemes like "paluwagan" and phishing.

He added that they have also received complaints about online scams about raw lots.

Sagarino said that one of the reasons why Dabawenyos are tempted to join investment schemes is because they would like to earn more in the shortest time possible.

Thus, he urged Dabawenyos to double-check any investment firms or individuals offering investment opportunities in order not to waste their hard-earned money.