Four uniformed personnel from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) were recently arrested by the Philippine National Police (PNP), aided by the popular finance app GCash, following complaints reported by detainees of alleged robbery and extortion in exchange for their release without charges.
The complaint included unauthorized GCash money transfer from the detainees’ smartphone while in the custody of the said police officers.
According to the first complainant alias ‘Gabi’, the five of them were apprehended by the suspects for illegal gambling. They were taken to their barracks after confiscating gambling funds which reportedly amounted to P75,000. He was then released without charges with his confiscated phone returned to him. The latter soon discovered that there was an unauthorized transfer from his GCash account of P11,929 to another GCash account, allegedly while his phone was in the custody of the suspected police officers.
Meanwhile, Gabi’s son under the alias of ‘Maglasang’, paid the police officers P5,000 cash in exchange for his release without charges.
As part of its ongoing initiative to educate the public on safety while engaging in online transactions, GCash continues to remind its users to practice extra vigilance and awareness of the various modes of scams, fraud, and cybercrime and to report to the authorities in case of possible unauthorized access of their smartphones while under the custody of others.
For help and assistance, contact the PNP-ACG via their hotlines at (02) 8414-1560, 0998-598-8116, or email at acg@pnp.gov.ph.
To report scams and fraudulent activities, visit the official GCash Help Center in the app or at help.gcash.com, message Gigi, and type, “I want to report a scam.”
GCash will never send private messages to ask for personal information, especially the MPIN and One-Time Pin (OTP). Customers can also contact the official GCash hotline 2882 for queries and other concerns.
