Philippine National Police (PNP) acting chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered intensified monitoring of fraudulent donation drives following Severe Tropical Storm Opong. This directive, aligned with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla’s guidance, aims to protect relief efforts from exploitation and ensure aid reaches affected families.
Nartatez instructed the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to monitor social media, websites, and e-wallet transactions to quickly identify and apprehend scammers exploiting public generosity.
“We strongly advise the public to verify before donating. Legitimate donation drives are usually organized by well-known organizations, government agencies, or accredited NGOs (non-governmental organization),” Nartatez said. He urged donors to check official announcements, verified social media pages, and official bank accounts, and to be cautious of vague or unverifiable personal solicitations.
The PNP-ACG has launched nationwide operations to detect and shut down fake donation campaigns and is conducting an awareness campaign to help citizens distinguish legitimate from fraudulent drives. Victims are urged to report incidents immediately and preserve proof such as receipts and screenshots to aid investigations.
“We encourage our kababayan to remain vigilant and discerning in choosing where to channel your generosity. Your donations should go to legitimate and verified organizations so that help truly reaches our kababayans affected by Opong. To those who take advantage of this tragedy for personal gain, let this be a warning: the PNP will find you, and you will face the full force of the law,” Nartatez said.
Meanwhile, PNP-ACG chief Brig. Gen. Bernard Yang warned the public about fake social media accounts using his name and image to scam people. He revealed that four Facebook pages impersonating him and the ACG are involved in scams, with one victim reportedly paying PHP10,000 to a fake page.
“Sa pagkakaalam ko, pang apat na ito. Iyong una, malapit na mai-file yung kaso. Ito rin ay ginagamit yung aking pangalan para mang-scam. Sa ngayon mukha natin at yung iba’t ibang picture natin online ay most probably grinab nila at nag gawa sila ng Facebook page just to scam (As far as I know, there are four of them. We are close to filing a case. This is also the one using my name and photo as well as the ACG then created a Facebook page so that they can deceive people),” Yang said.
He advised netizens to protect their Facebook profiles by locking them to prevent identity theft and said the PNP is coordinating with online payment platforms and Meta to trace the scammers.
From September 1 to 25 this year, 278 core cybercrime cases were reported, a 29.62 percent decrease from 395 cases during the same period last year. Cyber-related offenses also dropped by 37.07 percent, with 68 arrests made since September.
