THE Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) reminded the public on Wednesday to be careful before clicking on links as scammers are trying their best to make themselves look legitimate by using trusted websites as cover, the latest of which is The Manila Times.
In an interview, P/Lt. Michelle Sabino, PNP-ACG spokesman, said scammers would always look for ways to prey on potential victims on the internet.
She said that to determine whether the website is a scam, one simply needs to check the sender and name via email and the correct spelling of the website.
“They often misspell one or two letters,” she said.
But in the case of The Manila Times, the fraudster used the uniform resource locator or URL, lost.xspacet.space, which is a deviation from the paper’s news website, www.manilatimes.net.
“They are only trying to get your details or your personal information so they can use it for scams or try and scam you. It is part of phishing so beware, always,” she said.
Vera Files, described on the internet as a “nonprofit media organization that probes Philippine issues and fact-checks false and misleading claims,” issued a warning to netizens shortly after the website posing as The Manila Times was uploaded.