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DILG urges vigilance as bogus contact tracers strike anew


The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged local governments and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to be more vigilant against scammers as persons posing as Department of Health (DOH) contact tracers extorted money from unsuspecting victims.

In a Saturday statement, DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said that extortion and scam cases were increasing as more victims were coming forward.

“‘Wag po tayong magpaloko sa mga ito,” said Año.

A Friday DOH advisory warned that swindlers were misrepresenting themselves as members of the DOH Contact Tracing Team.

These con artists ask for personal information and extort money in the process. The public was advised to be vigilant and not entertain these calls.

The DOH emphasized that it does not have a contact tracing team and “to verify basic information and ensure that they have been referred by your Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs).”

Año explained that Contact Tracing Teams are led by the local government and are supervised by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Furthermore, the bogus tracers usually called and sent messages to households telling them that they were identified as close contacts of a person who has tested positive with COVID-19.

They would then try to extort money for the cost of test kits once personal information was given to them.

“Inuulit ko po, hinding-hindi po hihingi ng pera ang mga contact tracing teams for their task is to track down and manage close contacts, reduce the spread of infection, and offer diagnostic, counseling and treatment to confirmed COVID-19 cases. ‘Yun lamang po,” emphasized Año.

Such suspect activity should immediately be reported to the nearest police station or PNP unit or call the DILG through Hotline 911 and the DILG-Public Assistance and Complaint Center at 8925-0343.

The DOH also advised the public against giving out personal information and to end such scam calls.  The scammer's number should also be blocked.

Report the incident to the DOH’s Call Center Hotline through telephone number (632) 8651-7800 local 5003-5004 or email callcenter@doh.gov.ph. — DVM, GMA News

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