As the Philippines intensifies its crackdown on POGOs, online romance scams are rapidly spreading in the country, making Filipinos seeking love prime targets for cybercriminals.
According to research by global information and insights company TransUnion, suspected digital scam activities originating from the Philippines accounted for 18% of the total in the community industry (such as online forums and dating platforms) in the first half of this year, ranking first among the 18 surveyed countries, with a 35% increase year-on-year.
Online romance scams typically lure victims into disclosing personal information over the internet, which is then used to commit financial fraud.
TransUnion Philippines' Chief Commercial Officer, Yogesh Daware, stated that as online social activities become more frequent, scammers have more opportunities to operate on digital platforms. "Cyber scam tactics are constantly evolving, and the vibrancy of the community gives scammers more opportunities to target users," he said.
Phishing is the main attack method used by these criminals, along with SMS phishing, money and gift card scams, third-party seller fraud, voice phishing, identity theft, and account takeovers are also common.
Daware further emphasized that the threat of online scams is increasingly severe, and anti-fraud technologies must be continuously updated to cope with the increasingly complex methods of cyber scams. With the advancement of cybercriminal techniques, combating and preventing online scams has become an urgent task.
