The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center on Thursday warned the public to be extra careful when doing their Christmas shopping online, with the scam rate done through the Internet the highest in the Philippines among 11 Asian countries.
CICC executive director Alexander Ramos noted that the 2023 Asia Scam Report released at the maiden Anti-Scam Asia Summit in Taipei and published by GASA and Gogolook showed the online scam rate in the Philippines at 35.9 percent, nearly four in every 10 online shopping transactions.
The Asia Scam Report was based on data collected from nearly 20,000 respondents in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwain, Thailand and Vietnam. Shopping scams was one of the nine mainstream online scam scenarios and techniques identified in the Asian countries surveyed. Other scams included identity theft, investment scam, government/bank scam, job scam, lottery scam, family/relatives scam, bill payment scam and charity scam.
“Based on our observation, shopping scams usually increase during the Christmas season,” said Ramos. “Scammers take advantage of the high volume of online shopping and people’s vulnerability during this period,” he added.
The mindset and immediate response of Filipinos when confronted with scams makes them vulnerable to fall into traps, according to Ramos. “Some people easily believe on false promises even if they are too good to be true,” he said.
Based on the Asia Scam Report, 24.8 percent of Filipino victims respond too quickly to scammers’ demands and 21.1 percent of victims chose to take a risk despite uncertainty. Other reasons for vulnerability include being enticed with incentives and over trusting with friends and family members.
CICC is appealing to the public to call 1326 if they are victims of shopping scams and other cybercrimes.
