Philippine Post Office warns against “Mr. Vishing”

Wazzup Pilipinas!?




The Philippine Postal Corporation (Post Office) again warned the general public against the proliferation of fraudulent activities by “Mr. Vishing” that uses telephone calls in the guise of the Post Office in their extortion activities.

The scammers use computer skills to configure their calls in order to make them appear that these are legitimately coming from the Customer Service Hotline, (02) 8288 7678, of the said government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) which is under the Office of the President.

Hence, the phone number registered in the Caller ID of the recipient is the “spoofed or cloned” hotline number of the postal corporation. This official number, however, is being used by the Post Office for the sole purpose of entertaining inbound calls from the mailing public who are tracing the whereabouts of their mail or parcels. It is never used for outgoing or outbound calls for verifications on senders or addressees of postal matters.

Dubbed as “Mr. Vishing” for easier recall of the general public, “Vishing” is a criminal racket that uses telephone lines to call would-be victims in order to extract personal information, and generate fear against fabricated illegal acts or issues that eventually lead to extortion. These scammers are able to make their calls appear to come from reputable institutions or government agencies.

Based on the initial information gathered, the modus operandi which began in November 2022 asking would-be victims for their personal information through text or online messaging. In this case, the callers would then tell the targets that they “had discovered an outbound mail or parcel containing illegal substances purportedly sent by the prospective victim through the postal service”. They then claim that these parcels are bound to Malaysia, Thailand or any foreign country but were allegedly “shipped and intercepted at Cebu Central Post Office” or at any post office.

“Mr. Vishing’’ would then refer them to a “local police” who would then use their social engineering skills to instill fear in these victims for them to avoid “legal entanglements”.

The victims are then duped or coerced (even by video calls) to shell out huge amounts of money for protection to avoid trial and possible imprisonment. So far, there were three (3) private individuals who visited Cebu Post Office to inquire about these dubious phone calls. They were then referred by postal officials to the local police as these were proven to be spoofed or cloned calls with an end view of extortion.

The public is hereby warned not to give personal information over the phone to avoid falling prey to “Mr. Vishing”. It is best and wise to check first the authenticity of the calls, emails, or texts that they receive from proper and legitimate sources or can access valuable information available online against vishing, phishing and other frauds.

The Post Office has already referred this matter for investigation to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) or its National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is one of its lead agencies. Likewise, the postal service is coordinating and seeking the assistance from the Philippine National Police (PNP) as well as the current telephone service provider in order to resolve and address the PHLPost Package Scam.

Save the Children Philippines ignites passion and cradles young dreams through disaster recovery response

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Pudpud [not his real name] maybe the youngest and the smallest in his family of nine, but he is definitely the most courageous. When Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae [local name: Paeng] struck the Philippines last year, it caused massive flooding in several regions in the country, most especially in Mindanao, at the south of the Philippines. Pudpud braved the muddy waters and howling winds using a rickety raft to help save his aunt who lived nearby. Pudpud is a 5th grade learner and was one of the 1.9M in the list of children affected by the disaster. It was also in this encounter with Save the Children’s Humanitarian Response Team, who set-up the temporary learning spaces in his school, that his dream to be a soldier was set aflame.
The onslaught of Nalgae devastated the school of Pudpud and his classmates. They were worried because their learning materials have been soaked or washed away by the heavy rains and flooding.

Seeing the destruction of his school and how Save the Children worked with the government and different sectors to help affected families and children recover through humanitarian work and “bayanihan spirit” or communal unity ignited his patriotism and made him realize that he wanted to help when disaster strikes again.

“Because of the typhoon, many children in the community felt troubled because of their problems inside and outside their home. But psychosocial activities in the learning spaces really made us feel better. We lost our books and bags but thanks to Save the Children, we have new school bags and school supplies. I am now excited to go back to school and study. I want to be a soldier someday,” Pudpud expressed.

How was Joao Félix's debut for Chelsea?

Wazzup Pilipinas!?




The 2022/2023 season will not be the best for Chelsea. A series of injuries, the head coach

change, and many newcomers to the squad – all harmed the team's performance. By the way,

it is easy to find the football scores today of the games involving the Blues on the sports statistics website.

So, to improve their standings, Chelsea entered the transfer market in January 2023. One of the team's most high-profile transfers was the signing of Joao Félix from Atlético Madrid.

The Portuguese came to Chelsea on loan, but the Blues had to pay 11 million euros even on his temporary move. However, it is still not much compared to that Atlético spent on the player 127 million in 2019. By the way, today, scores of football matches involving the “mattress makers” are easy to watch on a proven platform.

So, Félix made his debut immediately after his transfer. His first match was Chelsea against Fulham. And unfortunately, it did not turn out well for the Portuguese.

He was active in the game, constantly interacting with partners and creating chances for them. It was evident that Félix was motivated and wanted to prove himself in the new club.

However, the episode at the beginning of the second half crossed it out. Then the player fouled roughly, receiving a direct red card. As a result, he seriously let his club down.

Because of this, the team eventually had to change the tactical scheme. As a result, Chelsea conceded in that meeting with a score of 1-2. Naturally, this was a lot of blame on the Portuguese.




Why was the debut relatively unsuccessful?

Félix didn't just let the team down in their first meeting. He received a three-match suspension for his rough foul. Given that he has been at the club for a short time, it's a big blow. By the way, if fans suddenly missed football scores yesterday in confrontations with Chelsea in the EPL or other tournaments, they will find the necessary information on the sports statistics website.

Factors of not the most successful debut of the Portuguese in the "blues" are the following:

1. The need to adapt to the new championship. Joao needs to adapt to the game's speed and dynamics.

2. Lack of interaction with partners. It was the first match, and the player had just joined the team. Obviously, he did not have time to play with his partners.

3. The desire to prove himself. Yes, it played a cruel trick on the Portuguese. And in the episode, with the gross violation, he decided to go all the way, although he could not have rushed into the sling, which would not have led to a suspension in the end.

Following the football scores of Chelsea matches, which are live or have been played yesterday, is easy on the proven platform. The schedule of games is quite tight, but now no meeting will pass fans by.