You got scammed online in the Philippines. What can you do?

Report to your e-wallet or bank the same day, keep every screenshot, bring it to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group or NBI, and consider small claims to recover.

Four things, fast. Screenshot everything, including the transfer's reference number. Report the transaction to your e-wallet or bank the same day, and the account to the platform. Bring a criminal complaint to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group or the NBI. For the money itself, small claims is often the more realistic route.

Someone posts a secondhand inverter aircon in a Davao buy-and-sell group, barely used, priced low enough that you message within the minute. She sends a GCash number. You send ₱8,500. She says the rider is on the way. By evening the account is gone and the number rings out.

The first day matters more than the next month

Screenshot before you rage-report: the listing, the profile, the whole thread, the confirmation with its reference number, the account you paid. Full screen, uncropped, timestamps visible. The Rules on Electronic Evidence (A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC, effective 1 August 2001) govern proof. Chats never recorded are ephemeral electronic communications under Rule 11, Section 2, proven by the testimony of a party to them — you. But the same section adds that once they are saved or embodied in an electronic document, Rule 5 authentication applies instead. So keep the phone, not just the image.

Then tell the wallet or bank. Under Section 7 of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (Republic Act No. 12010, approved 20 July 2024), a BSP-supervised institution has the authority to hold the disputed funds for the period the Bangko Sentral prescribes, up to thirty calendar days unless a court extends it. Section 9 makes one that fails to hold as required liable for the loss, including restitution. But the hold is triggered, not automatic: a transaction counts as disputed only where the institution has reasonable ground to believe it unusual, without clear economic purpose, from an unlawful source, or socially engineered. None of that helps you on day nine.

Where to file, and what each office does

Two offices take these: the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group and the NBI Cybercrime Division. One is usually enough — the same complaint in both rarely speeds anything up. But know what they do: investigate and refer. The case itself is commenced by a sworn complaint-affidavit filed with the Office of the City or Provincial Prosecutor for preliminary investigation, screenshots and transaction records attached and marked. You do not need a lawyer to write one.

Move quickly. Under Section 13 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act (Republic Act No. 10175, approved 12 September 2012), providers keep traffic data and subscriber information for six months from the transaction, and content data for six months from a law enforcement preservation order. And no, the SIM Registration Act (Republic Act No. 11934) will not tell you who owns the number: Section 9 makes registration information confidential.

Taking your money by false pretences is estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code, on peso brackets adjusted by Republic Act No. 10951 (approved 29 August 2017). Because it happened online, Section 6 of RA 10175 raises the penalty one degree. Section 4(b)(2) separately punishes computer-related fraud: unauthorized input, alteration, or deletion of computer data causing damage with fraudulent intent, which is where an account takeover lands.

You got scammed online in the Philippines. What can you do?

The first day matters more than the next month

Where to file, and what each office does

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Where to file, and what each office does

Estafa, computer-related fraud, or both

How Long Does Annulment Take in the Philippines?

How Do You Get a Protection Order Against an Abusive Partner?

What Happens If You Are Charged With Cyber Libel in the Philippines?

RG Briefs

Small claims, for the money itself

The honest part