Public cautioned against skimming by LBP official

Public cautioned against skimming by LBP official

Bank clarifies that there is only one confirmed case of unauthorized withdrawal from an LBP account through another bank’s terminal and it concerned the account of Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak

THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) is asking the public to take “extra caution” in protecting their automated teller machine (ATM) cards in the wake of skimming incidents in Cebu this month.

Catherine Rowena Villanueva, LBP first vice president for the corporate affairs department, said they are investigating the matter and are closely coordinating with Bancnet to resolve the issue.

In a letter to Sun.Star Cebu dated Nov. 28, Villanueva clarified that there is only one confirmed case of unauthorized withdrawal from an LBP account. It is in Cebu City and concerns the account of Councilor Dave Tumulak.

Coordination

“Land Bank is working closely with Bancnet and has been in constant communication with Councilor Tumulak to resolve the issue of his compromised account,” she said.

It was earlier reported that seven other persons who used the ATM in Barangay East Poblacion in the City of Naga lost a combined sum of P423,000 to the culprits.

“We further hope to clarify that none of the unauthorized withdrawals cited in the article was made at a Land Bank ATM, including Councilor Tumulak’s account, which was affected through another bank’s terminal,” she said.

Villanueva also said they immediately blocked Tumulak’s account and asked him to change his PIN (personal identification number) as soon as the councilor reported the unauthorized withdrawal around 10 a.m. last Nov. 9.

Cause of confusion

It is contrary to an earlier report, saying Tumulak was dismayed over the late action of the LBP about his concern.

“The confusion may have been caused by the iAccess (LBPs online banking service) printout, which only reflected transactions of the previous day and did not yet reflect the 12:43 a.m. withdrawal (on Nov. 9). Land Bank clients are reminded, as is stated in the transaction sum-

mary page of iAcess, that online statement viewing is available only for historical transactions and does not include same day transactions,” she said.

To protect cards against fraudulent use, Villanueva asked their clients to download the LBP mobile banking app since it has a “Mobilock facility.” It allows the client to instantly lock or unlock his or her ATM cards.

Tumulak’s request

Sought for comment, Tumulak said LBP had only asked him first to change the PIN of his ATM card when he first complained about the questionable withdrawal.

His account was blocked by LBP only after he again complained that P50,000 was withdrawn from his account.

He believes the bank should have immediately blocked his account when he first reported the incident.

Tumulak asked LBP to speed up its investigation and to identify the culprit.

“It is because until now, the suspect can still freely withdraw anywhere, anytime because he has not yet been identified. That is out first request to them, to identify the suspect. Or the best thing they could do is to return the money because this is also like robbery or theft. We entrusted the money to the bank. How could this happen,” he said.

Tumulak also wants the LBP to show proof that banks have skimming devices to appease their clients.