GCash, a Philippine mobile payments platform, reportedly signed an agreement with the Department of Information and Communications Technology's cybercrime unit to establish a mechanism to combat online scams and fraud cases more quickly.
G-Xchange and DICT's Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on developing a "rapid incident response" mechanism that will alert affected parties to fraud activities in real time.
According to reports, DICT Secretary, Ivan John E. Uy, stated that one of the most difficult challenges in combating online financial scams is that cybercriminals are frequently able to steal a significant amount of money before anyone notices that criminal activity is occurring. According to Uy, in some cases, responding to reports of online fraud took up to two weeks due to a lack of coordination.
The plan, in line with the MoU, is to take proactive steps to identify phishing and other scams quickly by detecting patterns of fraudulent activity, and to notify financial institutions immediately, Uy said at a press conference. “Cybercriminals will not have the opportunity to scam more people because the pattern has already been identified at the onset and preventive measures have been put in place.”
According to CICC executive director, Alex K. Ramos, users can help by immediately reporting scams to the government's hotline or the relevant service provider rather than posting them on social media. “They have to report to the government so we can create the right policies," he said. "To get your money back, don't go to social media— Go to GCash. Can’t get your money back? Report!"
GCash claims to have blocked over 4 million fraudulent accounts in 2023, and has taken down 810 phishing sites and 45,000 malicious social media posts and accounts.
Last month, GCash introduced Send Money Protect, an embedded online scam protection feature for money transfers. The insurance feature costs PHP 30 (approximately USD 0.53) per 30 days and provides fraud protection of up to PHP 15,000 for all ‘Express Send’ transactions during the coverage period.
