CICC warns public on online scams, hacking during Undas

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) warned the public against online scams that can happen during the “Undas” holiday.

“We want the public to be more vigilant against various online scam activities, especially when we are out of our homes,”  CICC undersecretary Alexander Ramos said in a statement Tuesday.

Ramos cautioned against connecting devices to open and unsecured Wi-Fi connections, which hackers can use to access data and get information.

“People enjoy accessing these open Wi-Fi because they are free without realizing that their open and unsecured nature also makes them vulnerable to attackers,” he said.

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“An attacker will intercept the communication flow between your handsets and browser and steal information and potentially allow your device to be hijacked,” he added.

As the holiday season approaches, the official warned against purchasing from fake online shopping stores in e-commerce platforms as these may have counterfeit products.

“Never believe a too-good-to-be-true sales offer. If the product is too cheap, it must be fake, or worse, it does not exist. Always check the legitimacy of the seller and never transact outside the e-commerce site,” he said.

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Another example of a scam that still victimizes people is the dugo-dugo gang scheme, where perpetrators call people who are not in their house to report a false incident and extort money out of them.

“This is the most conventional that continues to victimize a lot of people. People left in the  [house] should always have a way to contact the homeowner to verify reports of accidents and other emergencies,” he added.

The CICC also urged the public to report incidents of online scams through its response center hotline 1326.

The following numbers are also available for the networks below:

0947-714-7105 -SMART
0966-976-5971 – Globe
0991-481-4225 – DITO

The public may also go through its official Facebook page to report scams.