PH gov”t acquiring tools vs financial cybercrimes –CICC

The Philippine government is currently acquiring tools to counter financial technology crimes, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said on Thursday.

In a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview, CICC deputy executive director Assistant Secretary Mary Rose Magsaysay said the government will have such capacity in solving financial cybercrimes by next week.

“On the capacity of the Philippine government, we are acquiring tools that will be able to decouple—kasi at the end of the day ano fintech (financial technology) crimes generally—so for you to go into fintech crimes, there are specific tools,” she said.

“(On the capacity of the Philippine government, we are acquiring tools that will be able to decouple—because at the end of the day these are all fintech crimes generally—so for you to go into fintech crimes, there are specific tools.)

“We are in the midst of siguro, a week from now, we have that capacity to decouple. Malalaman natin kung saan napunta iyong mga pera, kung saan nanggaling, maski naghalo-halo na raw iyan sa isang exchange,” she added.

(We are in the midst of maybe, a week from now, we already have that capacity to decouple. We will be able to find out where the money went, where it came from, even if it was mixed up in an exchange.)

In January, a total of 624 cases of online scams were reported, according to the Philippine National Police – Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG).

The PNP-ACG said it continues to establish more offices in different regions, provinces, and districts as well as cybercrime desks within police stations.

“Let us maintain vigilance in our dealings with strangers, particularly in the online realm. It is imperative that we continually educate ourselves to safeguard against falling victim to online scams,” PNP-ACG chief Police Major General Sidney Hernia earlier said.

“The doors of the PNP-ACG offices stand wide open, dedicated to serving and safeguarding our community against the perils posed by cybercriminals,” he added.—RF, GMA Integrated News