3 nabbed over online sale of fake gov’t IDs
THREE persons accused of involvement in the online sale of fake government identification cards including those issued by PhilHealth and Bureau of Internal Revenue were arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group in separate entrapment operations, PNP-ACG director, Brigadier General Bernard R. Yang said yesterday.
One of the suspects who was described as a 19-year-old female with the alias ‘Marie’ was arrested in a sting conducted by members of the Northern District and Quezon City Anti-Cybercrime Team, the official said.
Recovered from the possession of the suspects were various counterfeit PhilHealth, BIR and other government IDs being sold for P180 to P480 each, Brig. Gen. Yang said.
The sting was launched after PNP-ACG cyber-patrollers discovered that the suspect was selling government IDs through Facebook last February 4.
The two other arrested suspects were identified as ‘Chan’ and ‘Nica’ from Zamboanga City.
The PNP-ACG director said that the two were arrested by members of the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit 9 in an entrapment operation in Cawa-Cawa, Zamboanga City last Sunday.
Seized from the suspects were various counterfeit government IDs which they were selling online for P400 to as much as P600 each as discovered by the RACU 9.
Brig. Gen. Yang said they are still conducting follow-up operations to identify the source of the fake government IDs being sold by the accused.
The suspects were charged with violation of Article 172 (Falsification by Private Individuals and Use of Falsified Documents) of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
