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The Philippine National Police Anti Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) recently tracked down and arrested the most wanted of the Cordillera region and this was in collaboration with the leading mobile wallet in the country, GCash.
Leny Orcine Sierda, 37 years old, resident of Brgy. Santa Catalina, San Pablo, Laguna, after she allegedly pretended to be a real estate agent using the alias Brenda Maxwell and received P71,500.00 online as a down payment.
According to the 23-year-old victim who is a research analyst in Baguio City, he was immediately blocked by the suspect, Sierda, after he received the agreed amount as a down payment for a condo unit in Cypress Towers located in Brgy. Ususan, Taguig. The victim immediately reported the incident to the authorities and after a thorough investigation, the true identity of the suspect was determined who is also the PNP’s top-most wanted in the Cordillera.
According to the victim, he met Sierda on an online platform where real estate properties can be bought, sold and leased.
The PNP Cordillera recognized Sierda as the number one most wanted cybercriminal in the first quarter of 2023.
“The capture of the number one most wanted cybercriminal of the Cordillera is a proof of the continuous development of our police force’s ability to fight cybercrimes using technology that is further strengthened by the close cooperation of e-wallets such as GCash. We want to further strengthen this cooperation to save even more Filipinos who use online payments”, said PNP ACG director PBGen Sidney Hernia.
The leading fintech company in the country continues to intensify its collaboration with authorities including the PNP, CIDG, CICC and NBI to ensure the safety of its 79 million users against scammers and other cybercriminals. GCash’s cooperation with law enforcement is key to catching suspected scammers and blocking more than 900,000 fraudulent accounts by 2022.
GCash continues to remind its users to be careful in their online transactions. The e-wallet also warns that one should not give out their MPIN or OTP to anyone and do not click on any website received in an email or SMS.
For those who want to report scams, just go to the official GCash Help Center at help.gcash.com or message Gigi on the website and type “I want to report a scam.”
For those who want to contact or seek assistance, can contact the PNP-ACG, through their hotlines at (02) 8414-1560, 0998-598-8116, or email [email protected]
