(Eagle News)–The Philippine National Police is preparing criminal charges against a man reportedly using the name of PNP Chief Camilo Cascolan to extort money.
In a statement, the PNP said the “cyber con artist,” whom it did not identify, uses a fake Facebook account under the name of the PNP chief for his “elaborate Internet-based scam” that sees him asking for money from policemen in exchange for plum police assignments.
The PNP said Cascolan was alerted of the scheme by a close friend whose nephew in Cabanatuan City was almost duped into sending P10,000 via money transfer purportedly in exchange for his preferred reassignment.
The PNP said the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group has also called the attention of Facebook over the account’s “flagrant terms of use violations, particularly to facilitate criminal activity.”
“We welcome well-meaning messages and posts on social media that assist us in reaching out to the public, but we will not allow the name of the PNP and its officials to be misused for shady activities,” PNP spokesperson, Police Colonel Ysmael S. Yu said.
Citing ACG records as of September 17, 76 persons have been charged for 113 separate cases of cybercrime-related offenses while 27 violators were arrested since March when the entire country was placed under an enhanced community quarantine and nationwide lockdown, Yu said.
