(Eagle News) — The Philippine National Police has warned the public against the tactics used by cybercriminals to access personal accounts and siphon off hard-earned money.
The PNP issued a statement following reports some Banco De Oro accounts had been hacked into, with thousands of money siphoned off to a different account.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has said it was coordinating with BDO on the matter.
The PNP, in particular, warned against accepting random friend requests on social media, noting that cybercriminals sometimes utilized these platforms to befriend unsuspecting potential victims.
“Trust no online friends unless you know them personally,” the PNP said.
The PNP also urged people not to respond to dubious emails with embedded links.
It urged them not to open links and attachments in emails when in doubt, adding that users could contact the company or organization that was supposed to have sent the email to verify.
According to the PNP, the public should also avoid unsecured WiFi hotspots and disable their Bluetooth when in public, since cybercriminals sometimes exploit “open connections.”
It also warned against the Drive-by Download Attack, in which malicious programs are installed to a device even without the user’s consent for the purpose of obtaining personal details.
“Victims might receive a link in an email, text message, or social media post that tells the target to look at something interesting on a site. Then it will exploit vulnerabilities in web browsers, plug-ins or other components that work within browsers not known to the computer user,” the PNP said.
According to the PNP, in some instances, the manual downloads are not required and the user only needs to access a specific site for the download of the malicious file to be triggered.
“Don’t rush in(to) downloading phone applications and carefully download those from trusted sources,” the PNP said.
It urged the public not to give away vital information especially contact and bank details.
The divulging of contact numbers online which cyber attackers can use should also be limited, it said.
If possible, the PNP said users should constantly change passwords.
“The best way to avoid a cyber attack is to be more discerning whenever your information is asked online and to immediately report to the authorities when suspicion arises,” PNP Chief Police General Dionardo B Carlos said.
The PNP said the police could be contacted through the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group’s e-mail address acg@pnp.gov.ph or telephone number (632) 723 0401 local 7483 for any cyberattack concerns.