The Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center signed a memorandum of agreement with consumer advocacy group CitizenWatch Philippines to help stem the growing cases of consumer fraud.
CICC executive director Alexander Ramos said the MOA with CitizenWatch would help CICC reach targeted consumers and empower them through cybersecurity training and campaigns.
“We would like to show to them that partnership with the government is the solution to resolving cybercrimes,” Ramos said.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes, a CICC technical consultant, said consumer fraud would be one of the four major areas to be included in the proposed National Cyber Security Plan.
“It will be one of the first four policies at the top of the agenda of the cyber security plan of the Philippines because it affects not only the consumer but the poor consumer,” he said.
CitizenWatch Philippines lead convenor Orlando Oxales said accessing the internet has become an indispensable utility for daily transactions and interactions with the digital transformation of the government and private sectors.
“CitizenWatch Philippines is one with the Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center’s campaign to safeguard our digital environment. It is with honor and great enthusiasm that CitizenWatch Philippines is partnering with the CICC to fight the rising cybercrime incidents victimizing the country’s consumers,” he said.
Based on statistics previously released by CICC, online fraud in Metro Manila rose 186 percent to 4,446 in the first half of 2023 from 1,551 in the same period last year.
The Inter-Agency Response Center of CICC received 364 complaints on online fraud in the first half which accounted for 40 percent of the total 904 cybercrime complaints during the period.