WOMAN SCAMMER ARRESTED IN ANTIPOLO FOR USING STOLEN PHONE'S FB ACCOUNT

A woman was arrested in Antipolo City for using the social media account of a stolen phone to scam several people.

According to Mark Salazar's report on 24 Oras, the suspect was caught in an entrapment operation on June 10.

Police said the suspect was using a cellphone that was snatched from the victim who was on his way home on June 9.

“On the same day meron nag-hack sa Facebook niya sa cellphone niya and then may nag-message sa friends sa Facebook niya na nanghihingi ng pera gamit ang kanyang account mismo,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Wallen Arancillo, PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) spokesperson. 

(On the same day someone hacked his Facebook account on his cellphone. His friends on Facebook received messages asking for money via his compromised account.)

The suspect managed to scam the victim's Facebook friends of P5,000 before the victim found out what was going on.

“Nakakausap nila sa Facebook account na ‘yun ng victim and then nagbigay ng payment service provider account number. Tinawagan nila yung number nalaman nilang isa pala itong cash in-cash out tiangge or store at sa tulong ng store naisagawa natin ang entrapment operation,” Arancillo noted.

(They were able to communicate with the victim’s Facebook account which shared a payment service provider account number. They called the number and found out it was a cash in-cash out store and with the help of the store we were able to carry out an entrapment operation.)

From January to June 2024, police said only 683 cases of computer-related identity theft and 1,622 reported cases of hacking were reported.

Authorities believe many people prefer not to report such crimes because they feel it’s not worth the effort.

The PNP Anti Cybercrime Group advised the public to practice cyber hygiene to better secure the contents of their mobile devices in case these are lost or stolen.

“Ito po yung pag gamit natin ng strong passwords na hindi basta basta mahuhulaan ng mga tao pangalawa yung two factor authentication na kahit ma-access ang account mo hindi sila basta makakapasok kung hindi ito linked sa email mo o sa mobile number mo kung saan magbibigay ng OTP,” Arancillo stressed.

(Let’s use strong passwords that people cannot easily guess. Secondly, two-factor authentication means that even if your account is accessed, strangers won't be able to enter it if it's not linked to your email or your mobile number where a One Time Password will be sent.)

“Mas mainam maging mabusisi, tawagan natin sila o tawagan kung sino man malapit sa kanila to verify,” she added.

(It's better to be thorough and to call them or call anyone close to them in order to verify.) —Sherylin Untalan/RF, GMA Integrated News

This article Woman scammer arrested in Antipolo for using stolen phone's FB account was originally published in GMA News Online.

2024-07-02T15:12:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd