00:00If the way to one's heart is through the belly or stomach, then perhaps easy street or the shortest path to one's pocket or bank account is via their heart or romance.
00:10Hence, people up to no good have found deception by romance or love as a potent tool to scam the innocent of their hard-earned money or financial assets, as our Gab Humilde enumerates the various love scams in this report.
00:25The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center or CICC is warning the public about the proliferation of love scams.
00:35According to CICC Executive Director Renato Paraiso, single individuals looking for a foreign partner, financially stable individuals, women being pressured to get married, men afraid of rejection, and solo parents looking for a companion are often those who fall prey to scammers.
00:52Those behind such scams are also using artificial intelligence to victimize even more people.
00:58We're going to be a victim because Filipinos are oversharing when it comes to their experiences, when it comes to their feelings.
01:05You're just a little tired. You're going to announce that in the whole world, you're just a little tired.
01:09Before we eat, we need to have a picture first.
01:11You're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry, you're hungry.
01:15We are living in an age, in a world right now that is very, that makes us very vulnerable.
01:21And the way to fight back is to educate ourselves, not only with the technology, but how we will be victimized.
01:27Some of the types of love scams in the country, according to the Scamwatch Pilipinas, are the sad boy, bad girl, where first they tell a sad or tragic story of their life to get mercy before borrowing or asking for money.
01:41Next is the seducer, wherein the scammer uses an attractive profile photo.
01:45Here, private information can be shared or asked for, and the tone of the conversation will be sexual until a naked photo is requested.
01:54Next is the investor, wherein the scammer will pose as a foreigner with a lavish lifestyle to entice the would-be victim to invest in foreign exchange or cryptocurrency.
02:05The servicemen poses as a middle-aged foreign military personnel assigned to Asia or the Middle East looking for a partner, where they target middle-aged women and ask for money.
02:15Eskorts only pose as middle-aged men looking for quick comfort, where the scammers use sexy profile photos, engage in open-minded conversations, and send sexy or naked photos.
02:26Before the meetup, the scammer will ask for money from his victim.
02:30The scammer will gradually try to earn for the trust of their victims.
02:34And pro Slourburn, the scammer will avoid meetups and will even borrow money from the victim.
02:39According to CICC, they received up to 123 love scam cases last year, where half of the total number of cases were from the National Capital Region.
02:48Scammers are primarily preying on messaging sites such as Telegram and WhatsApp, and those aged 18 to 29 are the primary victims of love scams.
02:58The amount of money stolen by scammers from the victims has reached 20 million pesos.
03:02Scamwatch Pilipinas has an advice, especially for those using dating apps.
03:07So kapag walang checkmark at photo verification, mag nyo pong patulan.
03:11So yun yung number one.
03:13And then the other one, yung sinasabi ko na i-video call nyo, video call nyo ng matagal, paulit-ulit.
03:19That's the second one.
03:20The other one kasi, hindi to applicable sa LDR, or kung may pera kayo, puntahan nyo.
03:25I-meet nyo na agad.
03:26At pag-im-meet nyo na, di ba, makipag-eyeball na kayo kaagad.
03:30At hindi po masamang humingi ng ID sa home first date nyo.
03:34CICC and Scamwatch Pilipinas are encouraging victims to call 1326 to report cybercrime-related incidents.
03:43Gab Villegas from the National TV Network for New and Better Philippines.
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