PSA, PhilSys warn against fake social media accounts

MANILA – The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has cautioned the public against Facebook accounts that claim to be connected with the agency or the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) for the purpose of charging processing fee for the Step 1 online registration.

“We are again reminding everyone to AVOID and REPORT the TEMPORARY Facebook pages that pretend to be related to PhilSys or PSA and CHARGE processing fee for Step 1 registration,” the PSA stated in a May 27, 2021 post.

PSA identified one of the Facebook pages as “National ID Online Registration” (https://web.facebook.com/National.ID.Online.Registration08).

The agency said applicants should engage only with PSA Philippine Identification System, the official Facebook page of PhilSys.

“PSA is engaging with the right authority to give it the rightful action. This is the only and official PhilSys Facebook page: fb.com/PSAPhilSysOfficial,” the PSA post read.

To avoid being scammed, PSA advised registrants to personally undergo online Step 1 demographic registration and avoid “stranger registration” which may compromise personal information.

“PhilSys registration is FREE. Even the PhilID (Philippine Identification) card is delivered directly to you by PHLPost (Philippine Post),” read the advisory.

The public can email info@philsys.gov.ph or call PhilSys hotline 1388 for reports and information.

As of a May 24 post, a total of 10,092,022 have finished the Step 2 biometrics registration.

Signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2018, Republic Act 11055, or the Philippine Identification System Act, aims to establish a single national ID for all Filipinos and resident aliens.

The national ID shall be a valid proof of identity that shall be a means of simplifying public and private transactions, enrollment in schools, and the opening of bank accounts.

It will also boost efficiency, especially in dealing with government services where people will only need to present one ID during transactions.