A WOMAN has sought the assistance of the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit (Racu) Central Visayas to help her recover close to P30,000 she lost to a scammer.
Ermina Lumactod, a resident of Barangay Looc, Lapu-Lapu City, said someone claiming to be an employee of GCash, a mobile wallet app, called her on Friday, September 2, 2022, to inform her that they were conducting a maintenance check.
She said the caller asked for the OTP (One Time Password) that was sent to her GCash account.
Thinking the request to be legitimate, Lumactod said she gave the caller the OPT.
Over the weekend, she found out that transactions worth P29,500 were deducted from her GCash, mostly purchases of items at Lazada and other establishments.
Lumactod said she tried calling the number of the person who called her. At first, the phone would ring but no one would answer until the number could no longer contacted.
She said she is afraid that the scammer will use up all the money in her GCash account, which is why she reported the matter to authorities.
She admitted that she never thought twice about doubting the caller.
Lumactod hopes operative of Racu 7 can help her trace the “buyer.”
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Michelle Salbino, information officer of the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) in Camp Crame, said scams involving online banking and electronic cash are not committed by syndicates or groups but by different individuals.
Anyone who is good at conning others can adopt this modus, she said, adding that many have been known to cry over their lost savings after being victimized by these scammers.
Salbino said employees of banks or mobile wallet apps would never ask a person to give information that would enable them to access that person’s online banking account or electric cash so she urged the public not to trust callers who do.
“Marami ang manloloko kung marami ang magpapaloko (There will be many swindlers if there are many people who will be easily swindled). That is why at ACG, we continuously remind everyone to be vigilant,” she said.
She said tracing the culprit will be difficult because of Republic Act 10173, or the Data Privacy Act of 2012. However, a court approval can get the ball rolling, she said. (AYB, PJB)