AS more Filipinos go online and transact business particularly via social media, the police reminded the public to be vigilant or cautious in order to avoid becoming victims of online scams.
PNP Chief, Police General Guillermo Eleazar gave this warning following the arrest of a couple in Cavite for their alleged involvement in a construction materials delivery scam.
According to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Cavite, suspects Axel John Medenilla and Jacille Sersedillo had been offering construction materials at cheap prices on social media.
But after receiving payments, they do not deliver the items to their buyers, some of whom paid for construction materials worth millions of pesos.
The suspects are now in the custody of the CIDG Cavite pending the filing of charges against them in the Prosecutor’s Office while more of their alleged victims surface to file criminal complaints against them.
“Some of our kababayan are getting to be more creative just to earn money even if it’s via illegal means, especially now with the popularity of online transactions in this time of the pandemic,” said PGen Eleazar.
“That’s is why we ask the public not to hesitate to ask for help from the police like in this case wherein this partners in life and in crime were immediately arrested for scamming other people using their social media accounts,” he added.
PGen Eleazar urged the public to immediately report to authorities if they have been victimized by this kind of criminal activity. He tasked the Anti-Cybercrime Group to intensify measures against this kind of activities.
He stressed that the cooperation between the police and the community is very important so as not to give criminals the opportunity to take advantage of people while a pandemic is ongoing.