Municipal polices facebook email accounts hacked

FACEBOOK users were flabbergasted on Jan 6, 2019 after Balete  Pnp Taga Protekta, the official Facebook account of Balete Police Station in Aklan province, changed its profile picture.

From an imposing picture of Balete’s newly-constructed police station, an unidentified woman in a skimpy dress headlined the Facebook account.

As of late afternoon of Jan. 6, the account is still active.

Police Officer 2 (PO2) Ma. Jane Vega, Aklan Police Provincial Office (APPO) spokesperson, confirmed that the police station’s Facebook account was hacked.

They knew about it on Jan 2 when a non-uniformed personnel tried to log in the account.

“Our personnel could not gain access to the account using their password,” Vega said.

They also tried to log on the police station’s email account but they also failed to access it.

Vega said Inspector Liezel Goboy, Balete police chief, decided that they would report the intrusion to Facebook once they have retrieved pictures and documents posted on their account.

“Using other accounts, they backtracked and saved the pictures and documents and did some screen shots,” she said.

But before the account could be deactivated, the “intruder” managed to get ahead and posted the compromising photo.

Initial investigation traced the hacker’s internet provider address to Victorias City, Negros Occidental.

Vega said they reported the incident to the PNP’s anti-cyber crime unit for further investigation.

In a statement, the APPO leadership confirmed the hacking, as Goboy and Senior Superintendent Lope Manlapaz, Aklan police chief, “extended its apologies to the public concerning this misconduct towards Balete Police Station and Aklan PNP in general.”

Further, “no member of Balete PNP has been held liable for this action. Hence, continous investigation and technical tracking to identify the poser/ hacker and make him/her liable for all the charges.”

“We will continously serve and secure the Municipality of Balete despite of everything,” Goboy said.

A new Facebook account will be created soon, she said.