LTO warns against new phishing scam

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has warned of another phishing scam, this time using a dubious portal of its Land Transportation Management System to scam motorists.

The LTO advised motorists to ignore messages about supposed traffic violations, and said that they will not send such notifications that will redirect them to a fake site.

LTO chief Vigor Mendoza said these online scams will only steal information, including bank and e-wallet details, that could get money from their accounts.

“We are continuously receiving reports of these scams and that’s why we are advising all our clients to ignore these messages in order to protect yourselves from online scammers,” said Mendoza.

“Once again, we would like to remind the public that the LTO does not send any traffic violations through text messages or through any messaging app. If you receive one, that means it came from scammers,” he added.

Mendoza said not to click on the links as this will lead to the bogus LTO website, and never input any sensitive information.

The dubious LTO site requires users to input their license plates, as well as personal information, that the scammers will use to access and empty bank accounts.

“Do not ever type in the license plates of your motor vehicles and give other personal information about your bank or e-wallets accounts. Better yet, ignore all of them because they are certainly scams,” Mendoza added.

The LTO is coordinating with the Philippine National Police and Department of Information and Communications Technology to catch the perpetrators.