GCash forges tie-up with DICT to fight system fraud

GCASH, the mobile wallet of Globe Telecom Inc. on Friday said it is ramping up partnership with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) against fraudsters and other cybercriminals.

Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) said it has launched a probe on the GCash glitch which resulted in unauthorized transfers of money from hundreds of accounts.

In a related development, Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada eyes the imposition of imprisonment and as much as P5 million fine against cyber criminals targeting virtual or electronic wallets and

similar platforms.

GCash legal and security officials paid a courtesy call on CICC chief Undersecretary Alexander Ramos, days after a system glitch resulting in unauthorized money transfers.

Gilda Maquilan, GCash vice president for public affairs and corporate communications, reported earlier that after receiving reports of irregular funds’ movement from the subscriber’s accounts, the mobile wallet management immediately conducted a probe and detected phishing as the cause of the problem.

She said scammers could have taken advantage of the ongoing SIM card registration and managed to access vital personal information of the victims which were used in the anomalous fund transfers.

Maquilan said the stolen funds were later traced to various accounts registered with Asia United Bank and East West Bank, after which, the full amount were reverted to their GCash virtual wallets.

GCash has signed a memorandum of agreement with the CICC in 2022 in a bid to strengthen collaboration in going after perpetrators involved in phishing, smishing, online fraud and scams, vishing, and other cybercrimes that target GCash users.