The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) warned Filipinos against scams, including love scams, investment scams and the emerging QR code (Quick Response) scam, which may become more prevalent as the holiday season approaches.
“During the Christmas season, that’s the time when the money or bonuses come in, so expect that you’ll receive a lot of offers,” Robert S. Paguia, division chief and data protection officer of the CICC, said in an interview on the sidelines of IDfy Philippines’ graphic novel launch on Thursday.
He added that scammers may disguise fraudulent schemes as legitimate job or investment opportunities, or prey on people’s emotions to obtain money from their victims.
Mr. Paguia also highlighted quishing, an emerging form of cybercrime that uses malicious QR codes to deceive victims. These codes may direct people to fake websites, steal their personal information or trick them into making fraudulent payments.
Scammers may distribute or post malicious QR codes through emails, text messages and public posters. Mr. Paguia warned that scammers may also replace QR codes displayed by legitimate brick-and-mortar merchants with fraudulent ones.
“So we really have to be careful when scanning QR codes,” he said, urging consumers to verify the validity of transactions with merchants before finalizing payments.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) also warned the public about quishing in July after receiving several reports of the scam. However, it reported that online scam cases declined by nearly half to 510 as of June, from 1,060 incidents recorded during the same period last year.
Mr. Paguia said scammers are difficult to apprehend because their operations are organized and multinational, allowing them to move from one country to another.
“That’s how fast these cybercriminals work. They don’t leave footprints behind, or digital footprints, as we call them,” he said.
Mr. Paguia said scam hubs in the Philippines are usually operated by foreigners, often Chinese nationals, while the scams are frequently carried out by people from African countries and some Filipinos, whom he described as victims themselves.
Echoing the advice of Scam Watch Pilipinas, Mr. Paguia urged Filipinos to remain vigilant, keep their personal information private and verify the legitimacy of transactions to avoid falling victim to quishing and other forms of scams ahead of the holiday season.
Victims of scams are encouraged to report incidents by calling the CICC’s 24/7 hotline at 1326 or emailing report.cicc.gov.ph.
Meanwhile, Raghuraman Chandrasekhar, country head of IDfy Philippines, a trust technology company, warned of an increase in the number and variety of scams as perpetrators increasingly leverage artificial intelligence (AI).
“The number of scams has increased, and the different varieties of scams have increased,” he told reporters during the launch of IDfy Philippines’ Chaos in Cavite, an investigative graphic novel that seeks to educate Filipinos about money mule networks and digital fraud.
“Probably one of the biggest elements on the front is how crime syndicates are also using AI to build different kinds of scams,” Mr. Chandrasekhar added.
According to a joint white paper released by IDfy and CIBI Information, Inc., the Philippines risks losing up to P603 billion annually to scams involving money mule accounts. This amount is equivalent to nearly 3% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the report said.
Mr. Chandrasekhar said IDfy Philippines provides identity verification and fraud-prevention technologies to help businesses detect suspicious transactions and prevent identity theft.
One of its solutions involves conducting live facial verification for flagged transactions to determine whether the person using an account matches the enrolled customer, helping curb the use of money mule accounts.
The company also offers digital onboarding and authentication services to help businesses verify customers and streamline account applications, Mr. Chandrasekhar said.
IDfy Philippines works with more than 10 organizations in the country, including some of the country’s leading banks and motorcycle ride-hailing platform Angkas. — Edg Adrian A. Eva