Seaman loses P36K load money in cybercrime identity theft
ZARAGOSA, Nueva Ecija — A 37-year-old seaman lost P36,000 in load money to a man who “stole” the identity of his friend using social media.
Police head Maj. Jaime Ferrer said the modus was uncovered when seaman Lancelot Ares, of Bgy. Del Pilar West, and his farmer-friend Ariel Belmonte, 35, of Bgy. Sto. Rosario Young met again after a long while.
Ares learned that he was a victim of cybercrime identity theft when the suspect identified as Luiegy Bernardo, of Bgy. Sto. Rosario Young, this town, and a resident of Peripin Bato Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, copied the Facebook account of Belmonte and used it to borrow load money from him.
Ferrer said the suspect, using the bogus FB account, chatted the victim on two occasions and was successful in acquiring money from him through GCash amounting to P26,000 at first and another P10,000 on their second chat.
“Ginaya ng suspect ‘yung profile ng kaibigan ni biktima na farmer, dahil friends nga itong dalawa sa FB, hiniraman niya ito ng pera. Nagkabukingan lang nang magkita ‘yung dalawa at na-trace naman nila ‘yung suspect dahil taga-Zaragosa lang ‘yung suspect,” Ferrer told the Journal Group .
Charges for violation of Sec. 6, Republic Act 10175 or the CyberCrime Prevention Act of 2012 are being readied for filing against the suspect, who remains at large.
