MindaNews fact-checked a Facebook page recruiting candidates in Mindanao to the Philippine Army that is cloning the real page.
The fake page copied the contents of Facebook page Army Recruitment Office Mindanao to scam recruits.
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The Philippine Army had warned applicants on March 8 that there is a fake version of Facebook page Army Recruitment Office Mindanao, and urged the public to report the bogus page to
Facebook so it can take it down and stop victimizing more soldier-applicants.
The fake account, which uses the same Facebook page name Army Recruitment Office Mindanao, has 37K likes and 57K followers as of Tuesday, March 12. Its listed address is Camp Evangelista Patag cagayan de oro city (sic), Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.
As of March 12, the official Army Recruitment Office Mindanao whose handle is https://www.facebook.com/AROMinTheOnlyOfficialPage, has 21K likes and 34K followers. Its listed address is Camp Evangelista, Patag, Cagayan de Oro City, home of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, which separately warned the public of the existence of the fake page.
The fake page has more likes and followers than the official page.
On March 8, the official Army Recruitment Office Mindanao (ARO Mindanao) warned in a post written in Filipino, about the existence of the fake Facebook page, which it said collects payments from applicants.
“Babala! May kumakalat na pekeng Army Recruitment Facebook Page na naglalayong manamantala sa mga aplikante ng Philippine Army (Beware! There’s a fake Army Recruitment Facebook Page that’s scamming applicants to the Philippine Army),” the Army Recruitment Office Mindanao announced.
“Muli, nais po naming ipaalala na libre and aplikasyon sa Philippine Army (We would like to reiterate that application to the Philippine Army is free),” it added.
Sergeant Genefe Lagapa, ARO Mindanao assistant administrative non-commissioned officer, said the fake page has victimized a number of young soldier aspirants from Mindanao.
The suspect, who identifies himself as “Techncial Sergeant Mijares,” collects between P250 and P2,500 “based on the complaints that we received from the victims, the amount depending on the case. The suspect accepts payments through GCash using various accounts,” Lagapa told MindaNews on the phone on Tuesday, March 12.
For those who want to be inserted because the quota is already full, the payment is P250, while for those overaged but really want to become a candidate soldier, the suspect demands P2,500, she said.
One of the victims, who personally reported to ARO Mindanao that he was scammed, is from Samar province in the Visayas, Lagapa said, adding “they lost count of the number of victims, mostly from Mindanao, who reported their complaints online or through phone calls.”
The 4ID shared on its Facebook page an English version of the same warning, a few hours after the Army Recruitment Office Mindanao posted it on March 8.
“There’s a fake Army Recruitment Page copying the contents of the legitimate one to scam the applicants,” it said.
“Let us take action to shut down the fake page and protect everyone so as not to be a victim of such illegal activity,” it added.
As of 4:43 p.m. on March 12, the fake Facebook page has not been taken down.
The 4ID urged the public to stand united against scams and frauds, and safeguard the trust and the well-being of community members.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
