CICC: Cybercrime complaints ‘still very low,’ urges public to report

Although the number of cybercrime complaints it received in 2024 tripled from the prior year, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said Monday the number of reports it is receiving is still considered low to obtain the "real picture" of the situation.

The CICC received over 10,000 complaints last year, which is far from the more than 3,000 reports in 2023. 

“Well, before kasi mayroon tayong what we call underreporting, hindi natin makita yung true picture ng sitwasyon natin. So pinaigting natin ang kampanya to encourage the public to cooperate with the government and start reporting maski yung mga maliliit na bagay, basta may kinalaman sa pangbibiktima online,” said CICC Executive Director Usec. Alexander Ramos in Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon. 

(We had underreporting before because we were not able to see the true picture of our situation. So we strengthened our campaign in encouraging the public to cooperate with the government and start reporting even the small cases, as long as it has something to do with victimizing online.) 

The CICC official further explained that it seeks to develop a better strategy by having a real picture of why such crimes are being committed. 

“For us, the number of complaints we are receiving is still very low. What we want is to have a real picture and because of this campaign, marami na pong nagre-report. Hindi po ‘yan nag-increase, in fact, ayan ho ay constant,” Ramos added. “Because the number of users, hindi naman gaano dumami, pero yung constant sa atin is everybody is online palagi.” 

(For us, the number of complaints we are receiving is still very low. What we want is to have a real picture and because of this campaign, more are reporting now to us. The number of complaints did not actually increase, in fact, the number is constant. Because the number of internet users did not increase, but what is constant is that everybody is online daily.)

Scams

CICC also warned that crypto and investment scams are common during holidays like Christmas, where people usually have extra money.

“Ito ay kalimitang nangyayari the incoming of a celebration, tulad ng Christmas season, ng mga holidays natin. Nagkakaroon kasi tayo ng mga extra budget, namo-monitor din ito ng mga sindikato,” said Ramos. 

(These happen during celebrations like the Christmas season and other holidays. Because those are the times that we have extra budget and syndicates can monitor that.)

Aside from the love scams, where the suspect flirts with the victim to lure him into investing. The CICC also warned the public of scams through SMS or online messages.

“Ito yung mga unsolicited messages, unexpected messages na natatanggap natin...prevalent dito mga social media messages na mayroong kahalong link. Isa lang ito sa mga modus na ating na-identify,” said Ramos.

CICC said that these links attached to the messages may hack one’s information and other important data.

(These are the unsolicited messages, unexpected messages that we receive…these are prevalent in social media wherein there’s an attached link. This is just one of the modus that we identified.)

“Kapag kayo ay nakakatanggap ng messages na may link, whether sa SMS or sa social media, magdalawang isip muna kayo bago pindutin ‘yun. Most likely, it’s either mayroon ‘yang payload - ibig sabihin mata-trap kayo kapag kinlick niyo ‘yan hanggang sa ma-identify o maagaw yung inyong identity,” Ramos added.

(If you received messages with a link, whether via SMS or social media, think before you click. Most likely, it has a payload and once you click it, you will be trapped and it can steal your identity.) —RF, GMA Integrated News