MANILA – The head of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Mel Robles, has firmly rejected claims of a data breach as ‘fake news’. Robles stated that no such incident occurred and no hacking attempts on the PCSO’s systems were successful. He emphasized that no reports were made to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) because there was no breach to report.
The controversy arose after a group named Philippines Exodus Security posted on Facebook, alleging that they had accessed the personal details of thousands of lotto winners from 2016 to 2025. The group criticized PCSO for not taking security seriously enough. However, Robles dismissed these claims as attempts by individuals to undermine the credibility of PCSO’s operations.
Robles highlighted that despite numerous global hacking attempts, PCSO’s digital security remains robust and unbreached. He accused the group of trying to gain notoriety by falsely claiming to have hacked into PCSO’s systems. Robles clarified that the information shared by the group was merely a list of participants in a promotional event at a PCSO branch in March 2022, not actual winners’ data.
He reassured the public that the database containing jackpot winners’ information is securely stored at the head office, which is not linked to branch offices. Robles confirmed that none of PCSO’s websites have been compromised.