Take measures to be safe online, PNP advises

MANILA, Philippines - With 44 million Filipinos using the Internet, the Philippine National Police anti-cybercrime group (PNP-ACG) has advised the public to be on guard against cybercriminals and avoid falling prey to online scams.

Senior Superintendent Edwin Roque, acting PNP-ACG chief, said the police has recorded an increase in the incidents of cybercrimes in just the first eight months of the year, a volume that has nearly outstripped the 544 cases for all of 2014.

“With the increasing number of Internet users there is also an increase in the opportunity for cyber criminals to do their illegal online activities,” he said.

He added that they have received a total of 517 complaints related to online crimes, including scams, libel, threat, identity theft and nudity.

Roque said the ACG received only 150 complaints in 2013, 544 in 2014, and 517 cases as of August this year.

To avoid becoming victims of cyber criminals, keep these do’s and don’ts in mind:

Do

• Do set privacy settings to the most secure setting available. Most social networking sites offer ways to restrict access to make sure information is shared only with friends and not with all Internet users.

• Do make a unique password for every social site. Consider making passwords stronger by adding numbers or special characters. Having strong, unique passwords for each site helps prevent hackers from taking over social media accounts to send spam messages, scam the account owner’s friends or use personal information illegally.

• Do remember that employers, school and university administrators and other authorities often check Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites for information posted online.

• Do be selective about who is accepted as a “friend” or “follower” on social media accounts. Identity thieves can easily create fake profiles in order to obtain personal information that might otherwise have been private.

• Do assume that status updates, photos, and videos posted on social networks are permanent. Just because a profile is deleted or information is removed, anyone on a computer has the ability to print and save text or photos appearing on a personal wall.

Don't

• Don’t post any information that would let someone know about a vacation or when the house is empty. Posting about being out of town for a few days could make someone a likely target of thieves.

• Don’t post anything online that would cause problems if made public. Follow the Front Page Rule, which reminds social media users not to post anything that may elicit strong public reaction and land the account in news pages the following day.

• Don’t click on links that may appear to be unusual or suspicious, even if these look like sent by friends. Also, don’t click links sent through spam emails as these could launch malicious software or viruses that could damage a computer.

• Don’t post any information that can lead hackers to passwords for online banking or other accounts. Criminals may be able to use this in accessing accounts using the forgotten password link.