MANILA, Philippines — Party-list group Gabriela is set to file a resolution with the House of Representatives calling for an investigation of the possible hacking and fraudulent transactions involving financial technology companies like GCash.
In a statement on Wednesday, Gabriela said they wanted to know how these online fraud incidents happened and how digital banking firms were addressing them.
“Gabriela Women’s Party […] will file a resolution to investigate these series of online scams and how digital banking applications are addressing these issues,” the party noted.
The call for an investigation came after Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas asked GCash to maintain high standards of security especially with millions of pesos moving around daily.
This was due to several reports about GCash customers losing money on the application through questionable bank transfers that were supposedly not authorized by the account holders. However, GCash’s management clarified that the P37 million cybertheft attempt was foiled, and that money obtained from users would be returned.
READ: Cybertheft hits GCash; P37-M transfers flagged
READ: GCash foils P37-M hack try; seized funds to be returned to users
“GCash should be held accountable for this possible data breach. This caused a huge inconvenience and compromised the data of millions of users across the country,” Brosas said.
“Under their custody are millions of pesos from its users, therefore, the highest security standards must be intact. Kung ganito lang kadali na makapasok ang mga scammers at hackers, madaling manakaw ang perang pinaghirapan ng mga tao,” she added.
( If it is that easy for scammers and hackers to enter their system, it would be easy to steal the money that people worked hard for.)
Brosas also slammed Republic Act No. 11934 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act, saying that it has failed to provide safeguards to the public in such scenarios.
According to Brosas — a long time critic of the SIM Card Registration Act — there are still a lot of online scamming incidents despite the law being implemented.
“This is proof that the SIM Card Registration Act has provided no safeguards against data hackers,” she said.
GCash, owned by telecommunications company Globe Telecom Inc., said on Wednesday they were able to foil attempts by suspected hackers to siphon at least P37 million from users. This was after the company supposedly detected a pattern of relatively small withdrawals from multiple users, which were sent to only two recipient accounts in two banks late Monday night.
“This was averted by GCash which immediately put a hold order on the transfers once the pattern was detected,” a ranking Globe official who asked to remain anonymous told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“The money is intact, and everything will be returned to our clients,” the official added.