The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will formally adopt the Scam Watch Pilipinas Anti-Scam Quad Model as the country’s official national strategy for anti-scam education and public awareness, establishing a unified framework to guide public action and cross-sector collaboration in preventing fraud.
The move creates a coordinated national approach designed to foster widespread anti-scam practices and empower communities to take an active, preventive role rather than respond only after harm occurs. DICT Secretary Henry Aguda emphasized the practical value of building on an existing, proven initiative rather than developing a new system from scratch, noting the framework comes at no cost to the government under a public-private partnership.
“Why reinvent the wheel? Let’s adopt it. If the program works, why shouldn’t we use it?” Aguda said. He added the model also positions the Philippines to contribute more strongly to regional anti-fraud cooperation and could place the country at the forefront of anti-scam education and awareness across Southeast Asia. “We want Filipinos to be not only informed about scams but equipped with the right behavior and tools to prevent them,” he said.
The Quad Model is anchored on four core pillars: driving behavioral change through the “Kontra-Scam Attitude,” organizing a volunteer watcher network, strengthening cross-sector partnership, and rolling out technology-enabled reporting systems.
Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder Jocel de Guzman welcomed the government’s commitment, saying the shift will move the country away from a largely reactive stance toward long-term cultural change in scam prevention. “Scam prevention should not stop at telling people what the latest scam is. We need to build the right behavior so Filipinos instinctively know what to do when confronted by suspicious messages, calls or offers,” de Guzman explained.
