The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will probe reported incidents of “prank deliveries” that are perpetrated from online shopping platforms.

In a message to reporters on Friday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the agency’s Consumer Protection Group (CPG) and Legal Group will handle reports and complaints of alleged pranksters using an individual’s name, address and contact details to make an online purchase and have it delivered to that person who did not make the order.

“So if that person is not a consumer, but apparently her identity and profile have been used and violated, and have become a victim of prank deliveries, offhand, there is [a] violation of privacy and fraud, and must be investigated to trace the violator,” Lopez noted.

“We will also have to push for the SIM registration system so there is traceability and accountability on the SIM usage. Will ask our CPG lawyers to check this,” the DTI also pointed out.

The issue on prank deliveries was already discussed during a House of Representatives hearing last month, where the DTI revealed that most of the online transaction complaints it received from January to October this year involved Lazada and Shopee, two of the largest online shopping platforms in the Philippines.

To probe prank deliveries, the DTI will have to work with the cybercrime experts or units of the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police. CURRENTPH