THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) yesterday reminded the public to rely only on its official channels for information and updates regarding its services as chairman Junie E. Cua decried repeated attempts of online scammers to use the name of the agency’s officials and logo to deceive the public.
“I urge the public to remain vigilant against scammers who attempt to use the PCSO for their selfish and criminal objectives,” Cua said.
“Kung hindi po galing sa official social media account ng PCSO o ‘di kaya sa nag-iisang Facebook account ko na Junie Cua, o ‘di kaya sa radyo at tv, huwag po tayo dali-daling maniwala (Please do not immediately believe news and information that are not posted on the official social media account of the PCSO, or my Facebook account which is Junie Cua, or from radio or tv organizations),” he added.
He also urged the public to be mindful of scamming “red flags.”
He said the PCSO does not ask for sensitive information such as bank records or social security information, send “urgent” messages and engage in scare tactics, or send text or social media messages asking recipients to click links.
“For the record po, hindi kami nanghihingi ng pera kapalit ng numero o premyo, kaya dapat ang publiko ay huwag magbigay ng pera para sa mga winning numbers o kung ano mang prizes kuno (For the record, we do not ask for money in exchange for numbers or prizes. I am appealing to the public never to give money to anyone to who promises to give them winning numbers or other prizes supposedly coming from the PCSO),” Cua said.
“Even as the government is taking active steps to crack down on online scammers, it is best that we also equip ourselves with proper knowledge to avoid being victimized by these criminals,” Cua added.