Cybercrime cases went down by 36 percent from January to June this year compared to the first semester of 2023, the Philippine National Police (PNP) revealed on Tuesday, July 2.
The comparative data was based on the complaints lodged before the police and investigated by the PNP-ACG and covers January 1 to June 30 in 2023 and the same period for this year.
From 12,807 cases in the first semester of 2023, the figure went down to 8,177 cases according to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, citing data from the PNP-ACG.
“We saw the decline per month and in fact, the biggest decrease in cybercrime cases was recorded in June 2024 with a 45.22 percent decline compared to June 2023,” said Fajardo.
The usual cybercrime complaints relate to swindling, illegal access and identity theft.
Other complaints are online libel, ATM/credit card fraud, online threats, photo and video voyeurism and unjust vexation.
The PNP leadership is currently conducting capability enhancement of the PNP-ACG as committed by national police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil.
These include local training and abroad and procurement of devices that will improve the investigative capabilities of police cybercrime experts.
“We have a lot of training and we are happy that even other government agencies are providing us with capacity training programs for our IT officers. That is the direction that we are now pursuing, to strengthen our cybercrime capabilities,” said Fajardo.
While the training programs continue down to the station level, Fajardo urged the public to be wary of scammers and to immediately seek assistance if they are victimized.