Panelo deactivates FB account due to online scams using his name

Panelo said he has reported the incident to National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Dante Gierran for investigation. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Thursday announced that he has deactivated his official Facebook account as he warned the public against the rise of online scams involving his name.

“For the umpteenth time, I’m cautioning the public to be wary of scams using my name. As a result of this, I have decided to cut all my Facebook accounts, (FB) Messenger and everything so that they can no longer use it,” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

“Anybody who uses my name and anybody who comes out with a Facebook account — that’s a fake. I’m cutting everything,” he added.

Panelo said he has reported the incident to National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Dante Gierran for investigation.

He said this is the fifth scam that he has heard about the use of his name where money has been deposited to accounts in the name of other people.

“It appears in that note that there are exchanges coming from me that I was asking for money,” Panelo said.

“I wanted to curse like the President,” he added, noting that he could not imagine why people he personally knew entertained the scam.

“I really cannot understand why these people who are supposed to know me would be believing that. The only reason I think, that I can conclude is that, my name seems to be very credible so they’re using my name,” Panelo said.