The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has teamed up with the Department of Migrant Workers to ensure the cybersafety of more than 2 .5 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in 200 destinations worldwide.
“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. considers the OFWs as modern-day heroes under the Bagong Pilipinas. We want to show that we are in full support of the our migrants with the MOU with the DMW,” CICC executive director Alexander K. Ramos said.
Ramos said OFWs are often targets of cybercrimes such as investment, love scams and online shopping scams because of their vulnerability and their financial resources.
“It (vulnerability to cybercrime) is simple mathematics,” Ramos said.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the remittances of OFWs in 2023 totaled $37 billion.
Previously, OFWs were victims of illegal recruitment, human trafficking, consumer fraud and online scams.
“OFWs just want to have a better life for their families but a number of people take advantage of OFWs and drain their hard earned income and resources,” DMW officer-In-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said.
Cacdac emphasized that the signing of the MOU itself is already a deterrent to cybercriminals who target OFWs.
“We will run after these wrong doers with the help of CICC and other government agencies such as Philippine National Police, National bureau of Investigation and the Department of justice,” he said. ,
Ramos said that with the Memorandum of Understanding CICC can include cybersafety as a topic in the pre-departure orientation seminars (PDOS) of OFWs leaving the country. The number of OFW contracts processed for 2023 has already reached pre-pandemic level of more than 2 million.
Under the MOU, CICC will also help DMW in its digital transformation and cyber resilience.
