BDO probes suspicious transactions

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The country’s largest bank BDO Unibank is probing unauthorized withdrawals and purchases complained by some of its bank account-holders.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, BDO admitted that in recent months, “there has been an increased number of clients that have experienced suspicious bank account transactions involving withdrawals and purchases done without their knowledge.”

Some of these clients, including some overseas Filipinos, lamented the breach of their accounts via social media.

BDO, the banking arm of the SM Group,
said that in the 4th quarter of 2017, there had been an “extraordinary” rise in fraud attacks towards the entire industry along with an increase in the number of claims for unauthorized transactions taking place in other countries.

“We are currently running a thorough investigation process that involves tracing individual transactions, checking any irregularities and identifying signals of fraud from millions of valid transactions everyday,” BDO said.

“This challenging task is done to ensure that all cases are addressed accordingly, and that a resolution is served for all valid cases.”

In its statement, BDO reminded clients to keep account information private, as well as to be mindful of people requesting for personal account details through phone, SMS, email, or websites.

“Unscrupulous individuals and groups are constantly preying on unsuspecting clients to collect their bank information through skimming, phishing, social engineering, and other devious ways,” the bank said.

Affected clients are encouraged to formally file a report via email ([email protected]), its international toll free number (IAC +800-8-631-8000), or its domestic hotline (631-8000).