ONLINE scam remains to be the leading cybercrime-related case recorded by the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit of the Police Regional Office (PRO) Cordillera.
Police Major Christian Pasiteng, Cordillera Anti-Cybercrime Unit assistant chief, said most of the cybercrime incidents were committed in Baguio City, with 11 cases listed for the first two quarters of 2019.
"The modus of suspects involved in online scam usually always asks for money, like selling items that look like genuine at a low price for reasons such as issue needed money for emergencies. And once the victim sends money, the suspect could not be found anymore," Pasiteng said.
Aside from online scam, online libel followed with seven cases, identity theft with five, and four cases for violation of Republic Act 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act. There were also two cases of online hacking.
"On security regarding online scam and even identity theft, we encourage persons going online to practice privatizing their accounts and to always log out after using their gadgets. And when someone tries to borrow money from them online, confirm the identity of the alleged suspect first by calling his cell number, so as to verify that person," Pasiteng said.
"On hacking, during the course of our investigation, what we found out is that the victim was compromised and not hacked. This was due to the loss of their cellphones wherein they forgot to log out, giving the suspects the opportunity to change the password of the victims' personal accounts," Pasiteng added.
The regional anti-cybercrime unit called on the public to be aware of these crimes and report to the unit any cybercrime-related incidents for appropriate actions.