DSWD WARNS PUBLIC: BEWARE OF TIKTOK, OTHER ONLINE SCAMMERS PROMISING EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Alarmed by reports that many people have fallen prey to social media scammers, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday (9 July 2024) cautioned the public to be vigilant and to refrain from engaging with Tiktok and other social media accounts that promise educational assistance from the agency.

“Once again, we advise the public not to engage with social media contents  that are not issued from the official social media accounts of the DSWD. These pages and groups contain fake information that aims to mislead the public or, even worse, gather personal information which can be used by online scammers to perform theft,” warned DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, who is also the agency spokesperson.

Dumlao reiterated that clients must undergo interview and assessment to avail of the agency’s financial aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.

“The financial assistance is extended only through the agency’s Crisis Intervention Unit/Section (CIU/CIS) located at the Central Office and in all DSWD Field Offices nationwide,”  Dumlao pointed out.

The AICS program is one of the DSWD’s frontline services that provides a wide range of services, including cash assistance for food, transportation, medical services, funeral expenses, and other essential needs of those who are in crisis and are found eligible as assessed by the attending social worker.

On the educational assistance, the DSWD implements the Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program, which is the reformatted educational assistance program of the agency.

The Tara, Basa! Tutoring Program creates a learning ecosystem wherein college students in state universities and colleges (SUCs) will be capacitated and deployed as tutors and Youth Development Workers (YDWs) to help improve the reading proficiency of elementary students who are struggling to read or are non-readers.

“We remind our citizens to always check your sources of information online and engage only with official government websites and social media pages with verification check marks,” Dumlao cautioned.

She added that the DSWD will continue to issue advisories to alert the public against fake information in social media through its official Facebook page, https://web.facebook.com/dswdserves.

(el Amigo/mnm)