THE Philippine National Police (PNP) has warned the public of an elaborate online scam by a man posing as PNP Chief Camilo Cascolan.
PNP spokesperson Colonel Ysmael Yu said on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, that the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) has identified the person behind the account who tried to dupe several individuals using Cascolan’s name and photos in a Facebook account.
“The Chief PNP was alerted of the activities of this con artist by a close friend whose nephew cop in Cabanatuan City was almost duped into sending P10,000 via money transfer purportedly in exchange for a preferred reassignment to a choice post,” he said.
The ACG is now conducting case build-up for the arrest of the suspect.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also warned the public against individuals impersonating several ranking officials of the agency in order to get money from local government unit executives in the guise of offering assistance amid the pandemic.
DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the suspects have called mayors from Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Iloilo, Leyte and Cotabato to offer remedies in relation to the ongoing investigation against them over anomalies in the distribution of the social amelioration program (SAP) subsidy.
“Mayroong pangyayari na sinabihan ang mayor na ang DILG ay magdo-donate ng 2,800 kaban ng bigas sa kanyang mga constituents na ang kapalit ay magpapadala si Mayor ng P20,000 via money remittance na sinasabing para sa transportation costs. Mayroon ding pangyayari, sinabihan din si mayor na tutulungan siya sa kanyang pending case kapalit ang cash transfer sa isang account na pipiliin nito,” he said.
“Ito ay malinaw na kaso ng estafa na may karampatang parusa sa ilalim ng Revised Penal Code, kqya inatasan natin ang Philippine National Police na tugisin ang mga taong ito,” he added.
The DILG reminded the public to coordinate their concerns with the DILG official channels and offices and to immediately report such kind of incidents. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)