Gatchalian wants probe on banks’ response to credit card fraud

MANILA – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday said he will file a resolution to look into how banks are responding to incidents of credit card fraud.

“Marami sa ating mga kababayan ang pikit mata na nagbabayad dahil nahihirapan silang i-prove or pinapaikot ikot yung kanilang report or nagbibingi-bingihan ‘yung mga bangko. Hindi naman pwedeng ganun. Hindi naman pwedeng gamitin ng bangko ‘yung kanilang proseso para i-delay at pahirapan ‘yung ating (Many of our fellow Filipinos have no choice but to pay because they find it hard to prove or their reports are not being acted upon or the banks turn a deaf ear on these matters. That should not be the case. The banks should not use their processes to delay their actions that make the situation even harder for) consumers,” Gatchalian said in a press conference at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters in Manila.

Gatchalian appeared before the NBI to formally file a report on the incident where still unidentified hackers gained access to his credit card and made unauthorized purchases.

“Maganda ang track record ng NBI pagdating sa cybercrime at kampante tayo na sila ay mapapanagot at matitigil ang mga modus na kanilang ginagawa para mambiktima (The NBI has a good track record in terms of solving cybercrime and we are confident that the suspects behind this scheme would be held liable and their modus in victimizing people would be put to an end),” Gatchalian said.

The lawmaker also said banks should heighten measures on consumer protection.

“Hindi sapat na sinasabing ginagawa namin lahat. Kulang pa. Like this, hindi ito sophisticated hacking na gumamit ng computer. Tumawag at nagpanggap siya na si Senator Gatchalian. Ganun lang kasimple (It is not enough to say that we are doing everything. This is not enough. This is not even a form of sophisticated hacking with the use of computer. Somebody just called and posed as Senator Gatchalian. Simple as that),” he said.

After being able to change his registered mobile number and obtain a one-time password (OTP), Gatchalian said the hacker used his credit card to purchase PHP1 million worth of items from food delivery app FoodPanda last Jan.5.

He said four transactions worth PHP300,851, PHP356,517, PHP323,247, and PHP96,265 were made in just an hour using his credit card.

Gatchalian, meanwhile, urged the public to take precautionary measures to avoid these incidents.

“Once we are done paying our credit card bills, we should shred it because these contain information such as credit limit and credit card number. If these are misplaced and lands in the wrong hands, we would have problems,” he said.

The agency, meanwhile, assured prompt action on the information provided by Gatchalian.

“Among possible charges that can be filed against the suspects are violation of Republic Act 8484 or the Access Device Law, E-Commerce Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act for identity theft and illegal access,” NBI cybercrime division chief Victor Lorenzo said.