PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan on Monday asked the Anti-Transnational and Cyber Crime Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to investigate a fake Facebook account under the name of the agency.
“PCSO would like to inform the public that the PCSO Financial Assistance FB page is not in any way connected to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office,” Balutan said.
Balutan was referring to a Facebook account carrying the name and logo of the organization that allegedly insulted a netizen who was merely inquiring about possible assistance for a colleague’s sick baby whose hospital expenses had reached P250,000.
FB user Margauxe Bravantes said she posted her inquiry to “PCSO Financial Assistance” FB account with the agency’s logo on Feb. 15.
However, instead of getting a favorable response, Bravantes claimed that she was insulted and sarcastically answered by the handler of the account.
Another netizen also sent a message to the FB account’s owner, asking if the page could really help or if the page was only a hoax. The netizen also got a rude reply and was blocked.
Balutan confirmed the page is a fake and the only official website of PCSO can be accessed at www.pcso.gov.ph.
Balutan assures the public that the PCSO and its personnel are always ready to assist the Filipino people through its various charity programs.
As of press time, the fake account is still accessible on Facebook.
“The Agency has now taken steps by asking the CIDG and its cybercrime unit to identify the people behind the fake Facebook account, and is also doing the necessary actions to ensure that other bogus Facebook pages, social media accounts and websites using PCSO shall be dealt with accordingly,” Balutan said.