Quarantine enforcement chief reports 'dummy' accounts of himself
MANILA, Philippines — The head of the government’s quarantine enforcement arm and the former head of the national police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group was not spared from the recent spate of Facebook clone accounts.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who sits as commander of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said he also discovered blank accounts on the social media website using his name and even his photos.
According to Eleazar, the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) has been instructed to help takedown the impostor accounts and run after what he describes as cybercriminals responsible for using fake Facebook accounts using his name.
“These people have their own respective motives but what they do is plain and simple criminal act because it falls under identity theft which is punishable by our laws,” he said in a statement to reporters.
The sudden increase in the creation of impostor accounts of Filipino Facebook users was first reported by University of the Philippines Cebu students on Sunday, June 7.
Since then, fake accounts bearing the names of legitimate Facebook users have been reported all over the country. The public has been advised by a number of government agencies to report suspect fake accounts to the police in order to strengthen the case build-up against them.
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Eleazar said that the impostor accounts using his name and photos could "prey on Facebook users to get money from them but may also use the fake accounts to spread disinformation and malicious content."
He also warned the public that the fake accounts using his name and photos may be exploited to take advantage of the supporters of the police organization.
“We have to be alert and take the initiative of protecting ourselves online because your names could be used for illegal activities,” he said.
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