Consumers were warned against web sites that sell products at “exorbitant” discounts and promotions, as these could also be phishing sites or a type of consumer fraud — essentially the most prevalent cybercrime incident in 2025, in accordance with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) on Thursday.
CICC Acting Executive Director Renato “Aboy” A. Paraiso told BusinessWorld that consumer fraud normally involves website links mimicking official brand pages that provide items at “exorbitant” discounts and promotions. He warned that these web sites could also be phishing sites or, worse, financial fraud pages that may steal money.
“It’s actually illegal. So the primary red flag there may be in the event you are redirected to a site as an alternative of using the official applications of online marketplaces,” Mr. Paraiso said in an interview on the sidelines of the BusinessWorld Insights Cybersecurity Series forum.
“It’s essentially the most prevalent sort of fraud since it is a passive sort of fraud, as most scammers right away are promoting these schemes,” he added.
In a report released last week, the CICC said it recorded a complete of 6,453 cases of consumer fraud, accounting for 38% of reported cybercrimes in 2025.
This was followed by online fraud with 4,243 cases (23%), online harassment with 2,160 cases (11%), and identity theft with 1,626 cases (9%).
The report also showed that victims lost a complete of nearly ₱418.2 million to consumer fraud, online fraud, hacking, and phishing throughout the same 12 months.
To combat these cybercrimes, Mr. Paraiso said the CICC’s efforts are ongoing and will likely be further expanded in 2026.
He said the agency continues its information dissemination initiatives by partnering with various organizations, with plans to broaden these efforts next 12 months.
“The primary weapon that we will depend on is basically an informed and educated citizenry,” he said.
In recent weeks, the CICC partnered with digital service platform Maya and online lending application JuanHand for its “Scam Protected” initiative, which goals to guard Filipinos from the growing threat of online scams and cyber fraud.
Mr. Paraiso said that by 2026, the agency plans to partner with more private sector groups, including the Bankers Association of the Philippines and the Online Lending Association, to combat consumer fraud and address other concerns similar to online gambling and child exploitation.
CICC’s Hotline 1326, a 24/7 motion center, stays open for the general public to lodge cybercrime-related complaints.
He assured that complainants would receive feedback on the status of their cases inside 24 hours of filing, noting that this helps construct public trust.
The CICC is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the federal government’s foremost body tasked with combating and stopping cybercrime.— Edg Adrian A. Eva