CICC logs 18 love scams in January

At least 18 complaints of love scams were logged in January, according to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) on Tuesday, noting that the figure does not yet capture the full scale of the incidents.

“I don’t think that’s the whole landscape that we’re looking at. What we notice is that when people become victims of love scams, they’re afraid (to file complaints),” Renato “Aboy” A. Paraiso, CICC Executive Director, told reporters on the sidelines of Google’s Safer Internet Day celebration.

“They are embarrassed to report because everyone will know that they were victimized, that they were deceived,” he added in Filipino.

The victims’ demographics are “widespread,” as AI has enabled scammers to profile their targets, making attacks more targeted to different kinds of consumers, Mr. Paraiso said.

Complaints among youths, who are considered tech-savvy, were also reported, he added.

In its 2025 scam report released earlier this month, the CICC said it logged 123 love scam complaints, with 53 involving complainants aged 18 to 29 — the highest among all age groups.

Other complainants were aged between 30 and 39 (38 complainants) and 40 to 49 (18 complainants).

It also reported that most victims were women, with 63 cases, followed by men with 56, while four incidents were undisclosed.

The acting executive director encouraged victims and those who almost became victims to call the CICC 1326 hotline to file complaints.

“Mag-report kayo sa amin para makapagsagawa kami ng mga intervention at matulungan ang iba na hindi na mabiktima,” [Report these incidents to us so we can carry out interventions and help prevent others from being scammed], he said.

Coinciding with Love Month, the CICC earlier launched its campaign called “AI, AI-AI FEB-IBIG,” a pun on a popular Filipino song, which aims to raise awareness about AI-driven love scams through various content posted on social media.

Meanwhile, global tech giant Google shared its latest suite of safety features aimed at protecting users against various cyberthreats.

Among these are the use of Google Lens and the Circle to Search feature, which was launched last December, to help users spot fraudulent messages.

“Our AI analyzes the messages and tells you in real time if it’s likely a scam or not. It’s like having a security expert looking over your shoulder,” Mervin Teo V. Wenk, head of communications and public affairs for Google Philippines, said during his presentation.

Users can use the feature by simply taking a screenshot of a suspicious link or message and uploading it to Google Lens for scanning, or by long-pressing the home button on an Android device to enable the circle-to-search option.

Google also shared its Theft Detection Lock feature on Android devices, where the screen automatically locks if the device is detected to have been stolen.

The “About this image” tool allows users to check the origin of a photo, while Google’s SynthID technology can help users identify AI-generated or deepfake images.

These digital safety features underscore Google Philippines’ Safer Internet Day campaign this year, “Sa Internet, Ingat!” highlighting how AI can be a powerful tool for online safety. — Edg Adrian A. Eva