President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday, June 22, said that the country’s “best defense” against online scammers are “knowledgeable consumers” who are able to determine scam methods. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office) In a media interview, the Chief Executive also assured the public that the “full force of the law” will be imposed on those who engage in such scams. “As I said, it’s basically an arms race but our best defense is a knowledgable consumer who can see for themselves, and determine for themselves that those that are ligitmate offers of, lets say, a promotional offer as suppose to a scam,” he said. While he admitted that “it’s not that easy” to sanctions those behind the schemes, the President promised that “should anyone be found guilty of promoting such scams, then the full force of the law will come into play". Marcos asked the public to be mindful of the text messages and emails that they receive. “But it really comes down to the public. My advice to the public is that when you get the message and there is a deal being presented and it sounds to good to be true, it is,” he said, adding that there is no way to guarantee “enormous returns” on investments. For the part of the government, the President stressed that the SIM Registration Act is already a “big forward” by deactivating SIM cards that have been used illegally. He also underscored the need to be watchful of new technologies and the new ways that can prevent Filipinos from being scammed. Marcos lamented that although the government made strides in catching large-scale scam methods, these groups are “very movable” and can simply be operated “in somebody’s basement with a computer which they can just shut down, sell away, buy (again), and keep going.”