The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) warned the public of growing cases of phishing scams in most social media platforms.
In a public advisory, the CICC strongly warned Filipinos to take extra precautions against “scams designed to access personal information and siphon off users’ money”.
The anti cybercrime agency said scammers lure social media users to gain more “followers” on their social media accounts by paying a certain amount.
Their method involves receiving a fake message containing the said offer and a link where unsuspecting victims would access a site masquerading as a legitimate social media app.
There, victims would enter sensitive account information such as their username, emails and password. It would often also ask for credit card details and bank account information to withdraw funds from the account.
The scammers would then gain access to the victim’s account and send the phishing link among the followers of the victim to continue the scam.
The public warning was also issued in time of the popularity of Mark Zuckerberg and Meta, Inc.’s new platform ‘Threads’ just weeks after its release.
CICC cited reports from a known cybersecurity firm warning against “cybercriminals taking advantage of Threads’ rise” and creating “imposter links”.
The agency added that “scammers are already employing deceptive tactics to cash in on the app’s popularity.”
The CICC is encouraging the public to contact the Inter-Agency Response Center Hotline 1326. Hurt Allauigan