Eleazar warns public vs. bogus FB accounts using his name

JOINT TASK  Force Covid Shield (JTF CV Shield) commander, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, warned the public against fake social accounts using his name and photos.   

In a statement Sunday, Eleazar said he had already instructed the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) to help take down these bogus accounts and run after cybercriminals perpetrating these activities.

“These people have their own respective motives but what they do is a plain and simple criminal act because it falls under identity theft which is punishable by our laws,” he said.

This came following the proliferation of fake accounts on Facebook bearing names of local users but do not contain photos.

Eleazar made the warning in order to inform the Facebook users of some of the modus operandi of cybercriminals wherein they have been using the impostor accounts to ask money from relatives and friends of the real account users.

He also said the impostor accounts using his name and photos may not only prey on Facebook users to get money from them but may also use the fake accounts to spread disinformation and malicious content aimed at compromising the JTF CV Shield’s efforts against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“We have to be alert and take the initiative of protecting ourselves online because your names could be used for illegal activities,” Eleazar said.(By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)