GCash urged to return stolen funds; cites lapses in SIM registration act

November 10, 2024 , 02:12 PM

By Bea Rollo

(November 10, 2024) – A lawmaker on Sunday called on the online payment service GCash to reimburse users affected by unauthorized transactions, emphasizing that the surge in digital fraud highlights the ineffectiveness of the SIM registration act.

“This is unacceptable,” Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Brosas stated, addressing complaints from GCash users reporting unauthorized deductions from their accounts.

“We demand GCash to immediately return the stolen funds to affected users and explain how these mass unauthorized transactions happened despite their supposed security measures.”

Brosas contends that the SIM registration act, designed to curb cyber scams, has failed in its purpose and instead exposed millions to data risks without significantly reducing fraud.

“What we need is stronger regulation of fintech companies and better consumer protection mechanisms,” she argued.

The lawmaker further called for a review of GCash’s security measures and encouraged the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and other government agencies to investigate potential negligence by the e-wallet provider.

According to the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), these kinds of incidents are alarming.

“Kapag kinuha ‘yan saan mo hahanapin ‘yung taong kumuha? Kung sino ‘yung nakinabang na ‘yan? Kasi ang nakikita natin is only numbers,” PNP-ACG P/Col. Jay Guilermo said.

Meanwhile, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Spokesperson Renato Paraiso stated, “They pre-registered a lot of SIM cards to be used by them in order to perpetuate ang mga scam activities. What’s sad about it is that the enforcement of SIM card registration was left to telco themselves.”

GCash on Saturday explained that this incident was isolated to a few users affected due to errors in an ongoing ‘system reconciliation process’ and assured customers that their accounts are safe. The e-wallet app said they have identified and reached out to affected account holders.

(AAD)

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