NBI warns against cybercrimes

CEBU, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation Central Visayas Regional Office (NBI-CEVRO) has issued a warning against the heightened risk of cybercrime during the holiday season.

According to NBI-CEVRO Supervising Agent Francis Señora, the surge in purchasing power makes individuals prime targets for scammers.

“This season is one of the most exploited seasons by online criminal scammers because of the reason that everyone is giving,” said Señora, who disclosed that the office currently handles three to four cybercrime cases daily.

During the investigation conducted by NBI-CEVRO operatives, they identified 10 of the most notable cybercrimes.

At the top of the list are delivery scams, where victims receive messages claiming they have a package to receive. Scammers then ask them to pay taxes or fees, but no delivery ever arrives.

Next on the list are fake shopping websites, where scammers create fake accounts to sell goods or services. After receiving payment, they fail to deliver the promised items.

The third is fake redemption websites, which lure victims with promotional offers and when users click to redeem points, scammers collect their personal information instead.

“When you try to click that link, they will ask for information… so instead of you getting a free price, you’re giving them free information,” Señora furthered.

Similar to fake redemption websites are gift redemption websites, which trick victims into sharing personal information by pretending to give gifts or prizes.

Another widespread cybercrime is task scams, where victims are hired to complete simple tasks, such as liking a page or following a website. As the task progresses, scammers ask victims to pay a fee to receive higher compensation, which ultimately is not true.

Other common cybercrimes include crypto scams, online paluwagan scams, fake relative/friend scams, romance scams, and loan scams.

Agent Señora stressed on the essence of protecting personal information and practicing good cyber etiquette to safeguard one’s identity online.

He also advised the public to avoid connecting to free or untrusted Wi-Fi networks.

“The moment you have connected to a WiFi, you are exposing the device for unauthorized access,” said Senora.

Señora also encouraged the public to purchase only those online shops that are on verified accounts and avoid installing suspicious applications.

“There have been increasing reports wherein there are money electronic funds were being diverted to unknown payments or unknown websites like session hijacking,” Senora explained.

Session hijacking is when the money application is conducting a communication to unscrupulous websites and during that process, the application is sharing the credential site and it will be collected by the scammers

Senora also warned the public about scammers posing as bank representatives, asking for sensitive information like bank account details.

He emphasized that legitimate bank employees will never make such calls, as banks already have this information on file.

Señora admitted that catching criminals doing cybercrimes activities are more tedious and hard to unmask.

He explained that cybercrimes are transnational in nature, meaning they can span across borders. This often makes it difficult for authorities to apprehend criminals, especially when they are located in distant regions.