An advocacy group has asked Filipinos to remain careful in online transactions and be wary of cybercrime activities.
The CitizenWatch Philippines co-convenor Tim Abejo, said a lot of Filipinos are now carrying out a bulk of daily activities online to avoid exposure to Covid-19 and scrupulous individuals taken advantage of this situation in committing cybercrime.
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Abejo said the pandemic has pushed shift to online mode and “We now do our banking, shopping, schooling, over the internet. We order food online and do our work from home” which have caused great risk.
He said that it is now hard to spot websites or emails that has the potential to be a cybercrime as people are now making emails and messages appear legitimate.
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In the pandemic period, the number of cyber tips received by the Department of Justice – Office of Cybercrime tripled to 1.2 million in 2020 from just 400,000 the previous year.
The most common among internet crimes are fraud, sexual abuse and exploitation, bullying, and identity theft.
