Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30) — Senator Richard Gordon has filed a resolution urging the Senate to investigate the rising cybertheft cases after some teachers complained about unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts.
In a statement on Sunday, Gordon said “the Senate is compelled to act on the vicious commission of cybercrimes against the Filipino people, particularly against teachers and other public servants, private employees and businesses, taking away their hard-earned savings, violating their financial security, assaulting their cybersecurity, and disregarding their rights.”
Gordon, head of the Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee, added that the inquiry should help strengthen existing laws to adequately protect Filipinos against online fraud.
In a radio interview on Jan. 27, Teachers’ Dignity Coalition chairperson Benjo Basas said they received complaints from 20 teachers who collectively lost over ₱1 million after unauthorized transactions were done through their payroll accounts at Land Bank of the Philippines.
The government-owned bank said its systems were not hacked and the teachers fell victim to a phishing scam.
Teachers’ Dignity Coalition said Landbank is still liable as its systems are “not secure.” Basas also maintained some victims never disclosed one-time passwords or OTPs, a supposed layer of defense against scammers.
READ: Landbank says teachers lost money to phishing scam, denies system hack
Citing data from the Trade department, Gordon’s office said there has been a “surge” in the number of online transaction complaints amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with 10,323 recorded in the first half of 2020.
In December, several clients of the country’s largest lender, BDO Unibank Inc., were also victimized by scammers. BDO vowed to reimburse hundreds of clients and assured it has beefed up its security measures.
Earlier this month, state-owned pension fund Social Security System also warned against an “increasing number of fraud victims” among its members.
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Apart from the probe, Gordon urged fellow lawmakers to expedite the passage of a bill mandating the registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. The measure is seen to help track down those who use mobile phones to engage in criminal activities.
“Once there is an enabling law that mandates telecom companies to screen and record every SIM card owner’s pertinent details, we can make sure that the numbers linked to crimes will make them responsible under the full extent of the law,” Gordon said.
