The Philippine National Police (PNP) is stepping up efforts to train its officers in digital skills as online scams, especially those involving e-wallets, continue to rise.
As quoted by the acting PNP chief, Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., the police organization must always be one step ahead of cybercriminals, and not just keep up with them. This came after the recent nationwide operation conducted by the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group resulted in the arrest of eight suspects who were selling e-wallet accounts, a common method used in online fraud.
The eight suspects were arrested in Quezon City, Manila, and Davao Oriental, but Nartatez said that this is only a small fraction of a much larger problem. As he said, to effectively dismantle large fraud rings, the police organization must be more tech-savvy.
To address this, the PNP is strengthening partnerships with fintech companies and community groups to promote safe online habits. One recent collaboration with online lender JuanHand focuses on public awareness, safe borrowing practices, and spotting scam and predatory lending schemes through education campaigns and training programs.
Imagine a world where anyone has access to an unlimited wealth of knowledge online and mostly free by the way, in hundreds of thousands of ways to keep their gadgets safe online and their ewallets secure, but they choose to spend every waking hour gaming, doom scrolling and watching endless reels on tiktok and meta. 🤦🏽♂️
Let them suffer the consequences of their digital ignorance. 🤣