Did you see the alleged hacking on the PCSO Facebook page? The beginning of December has been full of surprises in the Philippine news. From a celebrity breakup and many more rumors around, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) Facebook page is definitely not in its best state, as lewd photos were seen posted on its Story. The question remains: Was it hacked or intentionally done? Here’s what we got about this latest news.
What Happened To The PCSO Facebook Page?
On Tuesday, December 5, it might come as a surprise for netizens who opt to check the winning number combinations on the PCSO Facebook page. There were nud*ties posted on the official account’s FB Story.
@PCSO_govph Hi kindly check your PCSO facebook page… Some inappropriate photos posted on "Story"
— .yevah (@Yevah21) December 5, 2023
The executive director of the Department of Information and Communications Technology – Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (DICT-CICC), Alexander Ramos, confirmed the several lewd photos posted on the official PCSO Facebook page. “Mayroon sa Facebook lumalabas mga nud*ties, so it’s probably a form of attack na we don’t know if we can address it, but we sent people already to ensure that properly ‘yung investigation and recovery.”
[There have been nud*ties appearing on (PCSO’s) Facebook, which could be a form of attack that we don’t know if we can address, but we sent people already to ensure proper investigation and recovery.]
- PCSO also released a public announcement regarding this matter on their website. They informed the netizens that the PCSO Facebook page was deactivated right away and is still under investigation.
“The PCSO will continue to provide correct and accurate information about our games and charitable activities in our PCSO Games Online Hub Facebook page,” the statement added.
Was It Really Hacked?
Fortunately, Melquiades Robles, PCSO general manager and vice chairman of the board confirmed that there was no breach of information. Facebook is just one of the several ways for PCSO to announce the winners of their draws and lottery.
In an interview with SuperRadyo dzBB, Robles said they removed the lewd posts. “Immediately noong nakita namin merong ganun, tinake down namin voluntarily. At iyon nga, pinapa-imbestigahan namin.”
[Immediately after we saw it, we took it down voluntarily. Then, we had it investigated.]
LIVE sa DZBB: Melquiades Robles, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager kaugnay ng malalaswang larawan na lumabas sa isa nilang social media account.
📻: @dzbb 594 kHz
📡: https://t.co/Q2O7oZOmUH
📱: https://t.co/34yv7EnzYx pic.twitter.com/vyretz98JF— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) December 6, 2023
The general manager mentioned that there are other possibilities of what happened. As of this writing, there’s still no confirmed cause for inappropriate posts on the PCSO Facebook page.
As the investigation is ongoing, it is still uncertain whether what happened was hacking or by someone inside the agency.
Did #PCSO Facebook page just got hacked? OR someone's getting fired? 😅
— xnllod (@d1_thatgotaway) December 5, 2023
- As they were able to remove the posts and deactivate their account, it is possible that it was not caused by hacking. More often than not, if accounts or pages are hacked, the owner would not be able to open or use them. It could be an intentional posting from somebody who has access to the PCSO Facebook page.
With these possibilities, we should still wait for the official announcement and investigation regarding this matter. But it’s a relief that no vital data was compromised with this alleged hacking.
