Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra has mobilized their Office of Cybercrime to identify and prosecute the individuals behind the creation of his fake email account used for illegal solicitation.
Guevarra added that if necessary, he will also mobilize the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to catch scammers who dare to be his victims faster.
It was learned that on August 6, the DOJ-OOC warned the public against receiving an email from osecmig1@gmail.com asking for donations through iTunes gift cards for the allegedly sick and terminally ill.
“The said email address was used to send messages to a number of recipients requesting assistance in the alleged procurement of iTunes gift cards as donations to patients at hospice care units across the Philippines, subject to reimbursement,” said kay Atty. Charito A. Zamora, Officer-in-Charge of DOJ-OOC.
Zamora said Guevarra’s legitimate email address in Gmail is osecmig@gmail.com, while the alternative email account is osec@doj.gov.ph.
The DOJ has advised the public that if they receive this type of solicitation emails, they should immediately block the sender, report it as phishing and spam and notify their service provider.
Online scammer victimized DOJ Secretary Guevarra
Zamora also reminded that this type of emails are prohibited and punishable under Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
In June, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned the public about a returning modus of scammers pretending to be immigration officials.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente stated that he received reports of scammers targeting heads of BI’s provincial offices.
“These scammers would call up the office and pretend to be from the BI’s top management, often requesting cellphone load and other small favors,” he stated.
The scammer would call BI offices through their landlines, and request for the “head of office”. Once through, they would pretend to be a top BI official, and claim that they would be visiting the area. “The scammer would then start demanding favors, including sending load to his mobile number,” he added. “What these scammers don’t realize is that our office heads are immigration officers, hence they have been trained to spot inconsistencies and conduct verifications,” he shared.
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