Cybercrime among ‘greatest threats’ to Filipinos - PNP

MANILA — The Philippine National Police will be focusing on cybercrimes in 2023, Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., PNP chief, said on Monday, January 9 as he called them among "the greatest threats" that Filipinos face.

Azurin made the announcement after releasing crime data collected from July 2022 to Jan. 7, 2023, or the period since President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. took office.

"This year, the PNP shall focus on cybercrimes since [these are] now the fastest-growing transnational organized crimes which affect hundreds of victims not only in the Philippines, but in other parts of the world," he said.

The police Anti-Cybercrime Group has been issuing advisories to warn the public against threats like malware and ransomware. In late 2022, it also launched operations against an unauthorized online lending agency that also subjected borrowers to public humiliation and harassment for unpaid loans as well as scammers who defrauded buyers over online purchases.

Several Filipinos have also been reported to have been illegally recruited and trafficked through fraudulent job listings on Facebook. Promised jobs at call centers and data encoders, the migrant Filipinos ended up in cyberscam operations in Myanmar.

Mobile phone users also received a barrage of scam text messages in 2022, which led to the swift passage of the SIM Card Registration Act. Mandatory SIM card registration has been touted as a way to curb the scams but has also raised concerns on privacy rights and possible surveillance.

Azurin said cybercrimes are one of the "greatest threats to [millions of] users on cyberspace who have entrusted their personal data online."

He said the PNP will "further enhance anti-criminality capacity" and use "secure mobile artificial intelligence-driven real time technology" against online criminals. The police will also employ a "strategic approach that incorporates more science into police operations by leveraging  PAGE 2