The Cybercrime Investigation Coordinating Center (CICC) and Scam Watch Pilipinas are urging the public to use the Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT) eGov App to report suspicious text messages.
CICC Executive Director Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said that the government has introduced a new reporting channel aside from the Inter-Agency Response Center (I-ARC) Hotline 1326 with the new eGov App eReport feature.
“Victims of cyber fraud should call 1326 and those who just received text scams can report the numbers to the eGov App eReport feature. The CICC investigates the data received from the eGov App and we send it to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) which shall immediately block the numbers,” Ramos added.
DICT Undersecretary for eGovernment David Almirol formally unveiled the eGov App eReport feature recently at the DICT Bayang Digital Ang Bagong Pilipinas Regional Roadshow in Baguio City.
“Aside from elevating the level of convenience of government transactions digitally, the public can maximize the eReport feature of the eGov App to report not only scams but also crimes, women and child abuse, red tape, fire, accident, and even overpricing,” Almirol said.
Scam Watch Pilipinas Co-Founder and Co-Lead Convenor Jocel de Guzman said that the eGov App empowers the public to directly act upon text scams themselves using their mobile device.
“The public should maximize the eGov App scam reporting feature where they can easily submit a screenshot of the suspicious message they received from SMS, messaging applications such as FB Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram among others, Email, and social media posts,” De Guzman revealed.
To report text scam via eReport, follow these seven easy steps through the eGov App “eReport:”
- Download the eGovPH App on Google Play for Android users or Apple App Store for IOS users.
- Register to the eGov App
- Open your eGov App and go to the “More” section. Then tap “Report.”
- Once you’re in the “Report” section, choose “Scam.”
- Next, select “Text Scam” and upload up to five screenshots of the scam message.
- You can also write a description of the scam in the provided text box.
- Finally, tap the “Submit” button to complete your report ticket.
The CICC recently announced that it will file complaints against telcos and their free agents who failed to properly account for their thousands of unregistered SIM Cards that are being used to defraud the public.
Ramos said that they are alarmed when ongoing investigations found that unregistered SIM cards were being used to receive online bank transaction messages.
