THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday warned the public to beware of fraudsters who hold benefit dinners or lunch to supposedly raise money for the victims of the crisis in Marawi City.
In a press conference, AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Restituto Padilla Jr. called on the public to report any dubious activities perpetrated by certain individuals, in connection with the firefight in Marawi City that affects thousands of families.
"May I just send over a notice to the public that there has been an observable increase in scammers trying to raise money for our soldiers by way of benefit dinners, lunches or what you have," Padilla said.
"So just as a warning to the public, again, we would like to ask everybody to be on the lookout for these scammers and let your telcos know of the numbers they're using so that they can be blocked and cannot go on with their nefarious activities," he added.
Padilla said the public should not believe anyone collecting money for victims of Marawi crisis unless the bank account provided is verified and legitimate.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the only official designated depository bank accounts in Land Bank of the Philippines are AFP Marawi Casualty and Marawi IDP, with respective account numbers of 00000552107128 and 00000552107136. (SunStar Philippines)