Cyber cops on patrol

Newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Nicolas Torre III wants to reduce to three minutes, not just five minutes, the time for policemen to respond to any emergency calls for their help. This quick response time requires policemen, especially on car patrols, to arrive at the crime scene or to respond to any calls for police assistance.

But a special unit of the PNP equipped with modern information communications technology gadgets and equipment can deliver much faster response time. This is the mission order of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG). Created in 2003, the PNP-ACG, headed now by Brig. Gen. Bernard Yang, deploys their “cyber patrol” nationwide using the most sophisticated, advanced technology software for this mission. Manned by “cyber cops,” the PNP-ACG can even take real time action against online scams monitored or reported to them while conducting 24/7 online monitoring.

To further bolster its effectivity in fighting cybercrimes, the 800-man strong PNP-ACG have joined forces with ScamWatch Pilipinas and Gogolook PH. Dubbed as ScamVault PH, the online app was launched today at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum by the respective heads of the PNP-ACG, ScamWatch Pilipinas and Gogolook PH collaborating on this dedicated page in Facebook (FB).

According to Jocel de Guzman, creator of ScamWatch Pilipinas, ScamVault PH is a group page where group members and volunteers of their advocacy group can share harmful scam FB contents. “The big idea is to empower FB users to report harmful content to the ScamVault PH Group Page,” de Guzman explained. This is the “whole-of-society” approach in stamping out text scams, spoofing, phishing, vishing and all other forms of cybercrimes, De Guzman pointed out.

Regarded as the most popular social media platform, it is estimated that around 87 million Filipinos out of the country’s 110 million population are FB users, Art Samaniego, co-convenor of the ScamWatch Pilipinas disclosed. The ScamVault PH page will be managed and moderated by ScamWatch Pilipinas, which will be inaugurating in August this year its new office at Bonifacio Global City.

As for its role, Gogolook PH country head Mel Migrino explained they will collect all the scam content reported to this page using their artificial intelligence (AI) fact-checking technology and archive them for their database.

And since it is only the PNP-ACG that has institutional relations with the Singapore-based Meta office, Yang will process the same scam content once turned over to the PNP-ACG for forensic investigations. After which, Yang vowed to immediately endorse to Meta’s FB the scam content for takedown and to block the same permanently from its platform’s website.

Speaking for the PNP-ACG, Yang cited they were so far able to convict at least 116 cases for various cybercrime offenses they interdicted over the past six months. These were among the 608 persons who were arrested in 501 law enforcement operations conducted nationwide by the PNP-ACG cyber patrols from December 2024 to June 2025, Yang cited.

Records from the ACG showed 42 people were convicted for violation of Republic Act (RA)12010, or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act; 33 were found guilty for violating provisions of RA 11934, also known as the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Law; 11 received imprisonment and fines for violation of RA 9175, or the Chainsaw Act, and 10 for violating provisions of RA 7183, or the Firecrackers and Other Pyrotechnic Devices Law when they were found selling them illegally at the online marketplace.

Among the other crimes involved are photo and video voyeurism, estafa, violence against women and their children, grave coercion, grave threat, cyber libel and misuse of devices, all of which were in relation to violations of RA 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act. Seven of those arrested were foreigners, while the rest are Filipinos who were involved in various online scamming and other nefarious cybercrime activities.

Among the favorite modus operandi of scammers is “phishing” that attacks through email and attempts to steal your money, or your identity, by getting you to reveal personal information – such as credit card numbers, bank information or passwords – on websites that pretend to be legitimate.

In cybersecurity, there is also “spoofing,” another malicious act where an attacker disguises their identity to appear as a trusted source, such as a legitimate user, website or device. This deception allows them to gain unauthorized access to systems, steal data or spread malware. “Spoofing” can occur across various channels like email, phone calls, websites and even GPS signals.

A founding member of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) based at The Hague, Migrino shared the first quarter study done by Gogolook PH showing there has been a “shift” from the previous text scams. With the advent of e-commerce, Migrino noted, scammers have been preying upon online services procured through social media platforms from FB to TikTok, YouTube and now even Linked-in.

While text scams have been drastically reduced, De Guzman noted though with concern that there have been increasing incidence of vishing, or “Viber task scams.” Vishing is the fraudulent practice of making phone calls or leaving voice messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as bank details and credit card numbers.

Yang confirmed observations that indeed there have been a significant decline in text scams in the aftermath of the government’s policy decision to ban Philippine online gaming operations (POGOs). The ban took effect by executive fiat signed in December last year by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM). As it turned out, many of the illegal POGOs were found running online scam hubs that used SIM cards procured in bulk to prey on unsuspecting victims.

While modern technology effectively help them accomplish their mission, Yang credited also the cooperation of the public who report to authorities suspicious activities of potential cybercriminals lurking in their community.

Yang conceded “guerilla-type” operations persist. While these cybecriminals may be tech-savvy, “they commit mistakes, too,” Yang quipped.

That’s when the PNP-ACG “cyber cops on patrol” entrap them.