A Reddit user raised awareness about a Facebook page running ads and impersonating a legitimate resort in Batangas.
Redditor @ThrowRAloooostway on Tuesday, March 25, said that they reported an ad on a page called “Porto Laiya Beach,” which was using the identity of the Porto Laiya Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas.
To their dismay, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, did not remove the reported ad.
The Redditor lamented the result of the “investigation” and said that the platform failed to do its due diligence since the page was impersonating the legitimate account of the beach resort.
The Reddit user also mentioned that the fake page “blocked” them after they shared a warning post from the legitimate resort.
Other Redditors shared their experiences of reporting fake pages on Facebook, claiming to have encountered similar issues with the platform.
“Beyond the Box also has a fake page that has 300K [300,000] followers pero kahit ilang beses i-report, ayaw mawala,” a Reddit user commented.
“Dami ko ng na-report [diyan], puro ganyan lagi reply,” another user wrote, referring to the social media platform.
As of writing, the fake page impersonating Porto Laiya Beach Resort is still accessible. It continues to post pictures and videos, even claiming to be the “official page.”
Meanwhile, the legitimate page of the resort has already pinned a warning about the poser account last year.
The tourism office of San Juan, Batangas previously warned the public about the fake page and urged them to “report” it as “Scams and Fake Pages.”
It also told social media users to “leave an angry reaction on all their posts to help raise awareness.”
“Your effort can save potential victims from falling into their trap. Thank you for your help! Stay safe and vigilant, everyone!” the tourism office said.
It also posted links where it said victims can report the scammers: The Department of Information and Communications Technology-Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group Complaint Action Center.
Amid the impersonation, some Facebook users claimed to have become almost victims of the fake page.
“Muntik [na ako] mag-down payment dito, tsk, tsk, tsk,” a Filipino wrote in the comments.
“Grabe, kapal ng mukha ng scammer na ‘yan, 14,500 [ngayon] lang sa kakilala [namin],” another user wrote.
“Kaya pala hindi sila makontak kasi scammer sila… buti nag-check ako sa comment section sa page nila, lahat naka-filter. No way to contact them but in Messenger only,” said a different user.
The Porto Laiya Beach Resort also posted a screengrab of the fake page’s history, which indicated that it was created on April 14, 2024 as “jenevie delloson.”
The page’s name was changed to “Porto Laiya Beach” on April 26, 2024.
The fake page has 4,600 likes and 14,000 followers.
