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This ADVISORY is prompted by information received by the Commission on the proliferation of a TEXT SCAMusing the name of the President, tellingthe recipient has won the amount of Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php750,000.00) through an electronic raffle, from the PRESIDENT: RODRIGO DUTERTE CHARITY FOUNDATIONwith Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas“Handog ng Kabuhayan.”The recipient is instructed to text his/her name, age, address and work and to immediately call the text sender who usually introduces themselves as a lawyer and allegedly connected with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. To give a semblance of authenticity, a government approval number, such as one allegedly from the Department of Trade and Industry is quoted in the text message, such as “DTI#0432 Series of 2020.”Below is a sample of saidTEXT SCAM:
The public is hereby informed that the PRESIDENT: RODRIGO DUTERTE CHARITY FOUNDATIONis NOT REGISTEREDwith the Commission as a Corporation. Further, the Policy and Specialized Supervision Sector of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has confirmed that the alleged electronic raffle is a fake.The public is further informed that an Advisory,warning the public on Text Scams,was issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas dated May 13, 2015, stating that the BSP does NOT sponsor or engage in any games of chance, raffle or lottery of thenaturein said RODRIGO DUTERTE CHARITY FOUNDATION TEXT SCAMS.In view thereof, the public is hereby advised NOT TO REPLYif you receive a TEXT SCAMsuch as the one shown above or of a similar nature.Those who engage in these TEXT SCAMS are warned thataside from facing criminal prosecution for violation of the pertinent provisions of the Revised Penal Code, the Cyber Crime Law and Data Privacy Act, such scams committed during the Covid 19 crisisis punishable under Section 6 (f) of Republic Act No. 11469 which provides:“Sec. 6. Penalties. –In addition to acts or ommissions already punished under existing laws, the following offenses shall be punishable with imprisonment of two (2) months or a fine of not less than Ten thousand pesos (Php10,000.00) but not more than One million pesos (Php1,000,000.00), or both, such imprisonment and fine, at the discretion of the court:xxx(f) Individuals or groupscreating, perpetrating, or spreading false information regarding the COVID-19 crisis on social media and other platforms, such information having no valid or beneficial effect on the population, and are clearly geared to promote chaos, panic, anarchy, fear or confusion, and those participating in cyber incidents that make use or take advantage of the current crisis situation to prey on the public through scams, phishing, fraudulent emails, or other similar acts;”(Empahsis ours)Should you receive any TEXT SCAM, you are advised to report the matter to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas(for text scams alleging involvement of the BSP), the Department of Trade and Industry(for text scams alleging involvement of the DTI), or this Commission (for TEXT SCAMS alleging to be with the participation of an entity registered with the Commission)by calling the Enforcement and Investor Protection Departmentat telephone numbers 8818-6047 or email at epd@sec.gov.phFor the guidance of the public