By Fernan Angeles
FACEBOOK Philippines is on a sustained bid to take down spurious social media accounts and those which tend to peddle fake news or embark on con games.
Three accounts posing the identity of the Philippine National Police chief Camilo Cascolan is the most recent to be purged.
In a statement, the PNP said cybercrime investigators traced poser accounts, which used the name of PNP Chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan, to several cases of online swindling and estafa.
The accounts have been used to entice “Facebook users to donate funds purportedly to purchase computer tablets for students in urban poor communities for online classes,” said Brig. Gen. Marvin Manuel Pepino, head of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group.
The PNP said the ACG has initiated an investigation and case build-up on the activities of the people behind the bogus Facebook accounts.
Four persons of interest have also been summoned to appear before the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group for ongoing investigations into fake Facebook accounts, Pepino said.
Those behind the bogus Facebook accounts may be charged for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and Revised Penal Code for swindling or estafa, Pepino added.