PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) spokesperson said Tuesday the recent surge of fake Facebook accounts is just a coincidence.
PNP – ACG spokesperson Police Captain Jeck Robin Gammad said in an interview with Dobol B sa News TV that online identity theft cases were not new to them.
“Itong identity theft ay hindi bago sa kasalukuyan. Nagkataon nga lang po sa panahon na ito ay dumagsa at dumami ang ginagaya o kinokopya na account,” he said.
(This identity theft is not new today. It is only by coincidence that this time of the year has come, and the number of duplicated accounts increased.)
Gammad said their department received 185 complaints of computer-related identity theft from January to May 2020.
“Sa ngayon po, meron lamang po tayong natatanggap din na report. Gaya ng nabanggit ko kanina, hindi po ito bago sa atin sa PNP – Anti-Cybercrime Group,” Gammad said.
“Nagkataon lang din po ngayong mga panahong ito na pati ang mga prominenteng tao kagaya po ng high-ranking officials natin sa PNP, mga estudyante, at kahit ordinaryong tao ay ginagaya ang kanilang accounts,” he added.
(It is only a coincidence nowadays that even prominent people like our high-ranking officials in the PNP, students, and even ordinary people had fake accounts.)
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He said even PNP deputy chief for operations Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar has eight fake Facebook accounts.
“Doon po sa walo na na-monitor natin, anim po dito ang napa-take down na po natin sa pamamagitan ng direct reporting at request sa official e-mail po ng ating Facebook Philippines,” he added.
(Of the eight we monitored, six of them have been taken down by direct reporting and request in the official e-mail of our Facebook Philippines.)
National Privacy Commission (NPC) chief Raymund Liboro, however, earlier said the surge of account is “very unusual.”
The NPC invited Facebook Philippines to a meeting, which is set on Tuesday, “to seek more information regarding the numerous reports of impostor Facebook accounts.”
Gammad said computer-related identity theft or cloned accounts victims could file a complaint by going to their office or calling their hotline 0998 5988116.