Card fraud most rampant cybercrime in PH

MANILA, Philippines  —Card-not-present fraud is the most common cyber incident in the country, increasing the urgency for the passage of a bill that would prohibit and punish digital financial crimes, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Latest available data from the BSP showed there were 5,211 incidents in 2022, wherein scammers obtained the victims’ crucial payment details without a physical card being presented to merchants to carry out fraudulent transactions.

Such a crime accounted for 31 percent of the cyber incidents reported to the BSP by consumers in 2022, with the amount involved estimated at P467 million.

Meanwhile, phishing was the second most prevalent cybercrime in 2022, with 6,295 incidents recorded involving cash amounting to P623 million.

READ: Phishing, ransomware attacks remain top cyber threats in PH

Account takeover or identity theft took the third spot with 3,104 reported incidents involving losses amounting to P409 million.

Speaking to reporters over the weekend, BSP Senior Assistant Governor Elmore Capule said the central bank is pushing for the immediate passage of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (Afasa) to deter such crimes.

If enacted into law, Afasa would prohibit and punish various forms of digital financial fraud like phishing, as well as acting as money mules who help carry out scams.

READ: Watch out for new credit card scams

The bill likewise gives the BSP limited authority to examine and investigate financial accounts and e-wallets involved in the prohibited acts. It would be exempt from the existing bank secrecy laws as well as data privacy laws so the BSP can gather sufficient information.

Capule said the current version of Afasa has evolved from when the bill was crafted four years ago to make it much more responsive to the present financial environment. INQ