By The SUN
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| Police handout in Filipino warning against suspicious online sales |
An increasing number of Filipino domestic helpers in
The Consulate announced yesterday the upcoming webinar by the Hong Kong Police Force, which sought the PCG’s help in inviting the Filipino community to the webinar.
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The announcement said that the police webinar aims “to promote and prevent deception cases that victimize foreign domestic workers.”
“The Consulate welcomes this program in light of the upsurge
in the number of Filipinos falling prey to online deception/scam in
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The webinar will be broadcast simultaneously from 12noon to 1:15pm through Facebook Live on:
·
RCPO HKI, the official account of the Regional
Crime Prevention Office –
·
PHLinHK, the official account of the Philippine
Consulate General in
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The most likely topics are online purchase scams, in which people unwittingly give away their credit card information, thus opening their credit card accounts to theft by the scammers; remittance scams; online investment scams, and love scams.
The PCG also posted two police leaflets in Filipino and
English advising the public on how to deal with two common scams that have
victimized Filipinos in
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To avoid online purchase scams:
- Don’t easily disclose credit card information
- Don’t be tempted by special deals
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- Conduct the transaction in person if safety is assured, and
- Stop suspicious transactions.
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| Basic rules that one must remember to avoid online scams |
To avoid remittance scams:
- Change passwords regularly
- Don’t easily trust strangers that you have met on social platforms
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
- Don’t disclose your password to strangers
- Verify the identity of the sender by phone or through another way when it involves a money transaction.
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Police crime statistics show an alarming increase in the number of fraudulent crimes committed during the pandemic.
In 2020 there were 15,553 deception cases last year, nearly double the 8,216 cases in 2019 and almost three times the 5,652 cases in 2010.
Deception was second only to all thefts, of which there were 20,314 cases last year.
