PNP alarmed by rising Facebook hacking incidents

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday said the continuous rise of Facebook hacking incidents in the country for the past three years has reached “alarming levels.”

“Our analysis reveals a worrisome escalation in reported cases of Facebook hacking over the past three years, with the number of incidents reaching alarming levels,” the PNP-anti cybercrime group (ACG) said in a statement.

In 2021, the PNP-ACG recorded 503 reported incidents of Facebook hacking, while in 2022 the number of reported incidents surged to 1,402.

For 2023, there have been 743 reported incidents of Facebook hacking from January to June alone.

“These figures demonstrate a concerning upward trend, indicating a substantial increase in cases involving Facebook hacking over the years,” the PNP said.

“Cybercriminals are continuously devising sophisticated methods to exploit compromised accounts, causing severe financial and emotional consequences for the victims,” it added.

To avoid being a hacking victim, the PNP-ACG encouraged users to take several precautions.

This includes the enabling of two-factor authentication as an additional protection as well as logging out on devices when the site is not in use.

Users also also discouraged from using public WiFi since “they are vulnerable to hacking and data interception.”

—With reports from Kirsten Segui, Inquirer.net trainee

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