MANILA(November 18) – As Filipinos dive into the Christmas rush, the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and ScamWatch Pilipinas are urging the public to stay alert against the 12 most common holiday scams, warning that cybercriminals become most active during the festive season.
During a press conference at the CICC headquarters in Quezon City, acting Executive Director Undersecretary Aboy Paraiso said the Holiday Watch PH 2025 campaign aims to strengthen public awareness amid rising cases of fake deliveries, phishing calls, and fraudulent online offers.
“The holiday season is when scammers become more aggressive and creative. Our duty is to equip every Filipino with the right knowledge so they won’t fall victim,” Paraiso said.
The agencies listed the top threats this Christmas, including online shopping scams, fake delivery scams, call scams, task/job scams, investment scams, love/romance scams, loan scams, impersonation scams, travel scams, charity scams, middleman scams, and online gambling scams.
Paraiso emphasized that the ultimate goal is simple: “to protect every Filipino from cybercriminals this Christmas.”
ScamWatch Pilipinas co-founder and Truth360 Inc. president Jocel de Guzman highlighted the continued success of the annual awareness drive, now on its third year, crediting its impact to the Anti-Scam Quad Model of behavior change, volunteerism, cross-sector collaboration, and technology-enabled reporting.
He said the partnership with government and private-sector groups has helped reduce text scams and encouraged more Filipinos to report suspicious activities.
“Awareness saves lives, livelihoods, and Christmas,” he noted.
De Guzman urged the public to practice four habits to avoid falling for scams: magdamot (be cautious), magduda (be skeptical), mang-isnab (ignore suspicious messages), and magsumbong (report scams) to the 1326 National Anti-Scam Hotline.
Victims and witnesses may also submit screenshots and suspicious links through the eReport section of the eGOVPH app. He further encouraged the public to use caller-ID tools such as Whoscall to block potential scam numbers.
