DICT to adopt Scam Watch Pilipinas Anti-Scam Quad Model as national anti-scam education and awareness strategy

• IN PHOTO (from left): DICT Secretary Henry Aguda and  Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder Jocel de Guzman.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is set to adopt the Scam Watch Pilipinas Anti-Scam Quad Model as the national anti-scam education and awareness strategy. The move will provide a unified framework for building anti-scam behavior and strengthening community participation in scam prevention.

DICT Secretary Henry Aguda made the commitment during an interview on Wais Konsyumer on DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 with veteran broadcaster Alvin Elchico and Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder Jocel de Guzman. The discussion focused on the most common online scams targeting Filipinos and practical ways consumers can protect themselves.

“Bakit pa namin ire-reinvent ang wheel,” Aguda said. “I-adopt natin ’yan. Ako naman, I’m a friend to everybody para sa kapakanan ng mamamayan. Kung maganda ’yung programa, ba’t hindi natin gawin, ’di ba? Libre sa gobyerno, makakabuti sa mamamayan, tapos public-private partnership.”

Aguda said the Quad Model could also strengthen the Philippines’ position in regional efforts against scams.

“With the Anti-Scam Quad Model as our national education and awareness strategy, we can put the Philippines at the forefront of anti-scam education and awareness in Southeast Asia. We want Filipinos to be not only informed about scams but equipped with the right behavior and tools to prevent them,” Aguda said.

IN PHOTO (from left): DICT Secretary Henry Aguda; veteran broadcaster Alvin Elchico; and  Scam Watch Pilipinas co-founder Jocel de Guzman after the Wais Konsyumer interview on DZMM Radyo Patrol 630.

The Scam Watch Pilipinas Anti-Scam Quad Model is built around four key components: behavioral change through the Kontra-Scam Attitude, a volunteer watcher program, cross-sector collaboration and technology-enabled reporting.

The model has also gained international recognition for Scam Watch Pilipinas. The advocacy was ranked Top 2 in the world in the Best Anti-Scam Campaign category of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance’s Scam Fighter Awards in 2025.

At the center of the model is the Kontra-Scam Attitude, which encourages Filipinos to adopt four behaviors when dealing with suspicious messages, calls and online offers: Magdamot, Magduda, Mang-isnab and Magsumbong.

The second component focuses on mobilizing and training volunteer anti-scam advocates who can bring awareness directly to communities, schools, workplaces and vulnerable sectors.

The third pushes stronger coordination among government agencies, law enforcement, financial institutions, telecommunications companies, technology platforms, civil society groups and other stakeholders involved in scam prevention and consumer protection.

The fourth component promotes technology-enabled reporting to make it easier for the public to report suspicious activities and scam incidents through available digital channels and government reporting mechanisms.

De Guzman said the DICT commitment could move anti-scam education away from a largely reactive approach that focuses on warning the public whenever a new scam emerges.

“Scam prevention should not stop at telling people what the latest scam is. We need to build the right behavior so Filipinos instinctively know what to do when confronted by suspicious messages, calls or offers. I also thank Secretary Henry Aguda for recognizing the value of behavioral change in scam prevention and for seeing that fighting scams requires more than technology and enforcement,” De Guzman said.

He said adopting the Quad Model as the national anti-scam education and awareness strategy could provide government agencies, communities and private organizations with a common framework for sustained scam prevention efforts.

Scam Watch Pilipinas has been advocating a whole-of-society approach to fighting scams based on the view that the growing scale and sophistication of online fraud cannot be addressed by law enforcement alone.

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