DOJ orders deeper NBI probe into teachers’ missing funds
DEPARTMENT of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra will ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a separate probe into the plight of teachers who lost their hard-earned money from their Landbank accounts to a phishing scam.
“The NBI is already looking into phishing of bank accounts on a broader scale, but I am minded to issue a separate directive to the NBI in the case of the teacher victims,” Guevarra said in a message.
According to Teachers’ Dignity Coalition chairperson Benjo Basas, several teachers lost at least P26,000 to P121,000 each after their Landbank accounts were allegedly hacked.
Basas divulged that 16 teachers from Metro Manila, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), Central Luzon, Negros, and Mindoro have lost money in their Landbank accounts.
The money lost mostly came from teachers’ regular salaries, holiday bonuses, and lifetime savings.
But the Land Bank of the Philippines said the teachers had fallen victims to a phishing scam.
Phishing happens when a bank customer receives an email directing the unsuspecting client to click an attachment or link, which, in turn, enables the scammer to access the victim’s bank information.
