Of spam and scams
Law enforcers need to get tougher on these criminals, and regulatory agencies must be hard on telcos who fail to protect subscribers from spam and scams.
Law enforcers need to get tougher on these criminals, and regulatory agencies must be hard on telcos who fail to protect subscribers from spam and scams.
A website is selling a product for osteoarthritis supposedly recommended by the Department of Health and its secretary Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa. This is another fake ad using the health agency’s name. Shared on Facebook (FB) as early as Nov. 13, the link’s thumbnail featured a photo of Herbosa and the text: “DOH was surprised to […]
Bogus websites promising netizens “unemployment assistance” from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have circulated anew days after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that there were 2.26 million jobless Filipinos last month. These are fake sites. The department has disowned the circulating links, calling them untrue. “Ang DSWD ay walang pinapasagutang survey […]
A “news report” with 3.4 million views on Facebook (FB) that claims cardiologist Willie Ong was physically attacked during a live television show is fake. This is a modus operandi to sell a product. The 38-second clip posted on Oct. 17 bore a logo of CNN Philippines and the headline: “Lumaban sa studio. Bakit binugbog […]
A Facebook (FB) page used a video of medical practitioner Liza Ramoso-Ong to advertise an ear medication that could allegedly treat ear problems like ruptured eardrums, ear infections, and ear ringing or tinnitus in a few weeks. This is a fake ad. South Moon Ear Drops, as advertised, is not a registered drug under the […]
Facebook (FB) pages posing as authorized Apple resellers are using the same modus operandi of other scammers to sell a smartwatch. Posted this October, the hoax ads claimed that the Power Mac Center launched the product Smartwatch GT20 Ultra and drew a huge crowd in one of its branches that left some patrons injured. The […]
Yet another website imitating The Manila Times posted a story endorsing a cryptocurrency trading program supposedly recommended by former Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III. This is a rehash of a previously debunked hoax. Several Facebook (FB) users and a page circulated the link to the website as early as Oct. 3. It carried an article […]
(Editor’s Note: Unang inilathala ang fact-check na ito sa Ingles noong Sept. 8.) Isang mambabasa ng VERA Files ang nagpa-fact-check ng isang produktong gatas na naglilinis at nag-de-detoxify raw ng baga. Kasinungalingan ito. Ayon sa post noong Aug. 9 ng Facebook (FB) page na Lung Gold Milk – Specialty Milk For Lung Patients at tatlo […]
A reader asked VERA Files Fact Check to look into a milk product that allegedly detoxifies and cleans the lungs being promoted by four Facebook (FB) pages. These are bogus claims. “Pneumonia, Bronchitis, asthma, [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] C.O.P.D. resolved right after 7 days of using Lung Gold Milk,” read an Aug. 9 post by […]
A Facebook (FB) page posted a video advertisement for a product called Innercure supposedly endorsed by cardiologist Willie Ong and his general practitioner wife Liza Ramoso-Ong. This is fake. Nearly six months after it was uploaded on March 11, the video continues to circulate among Filipino netizens. It contains clips of the couple discussing causes […]