Hacker uses Gatchalian's credit card for P1M worth of delivered food

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said his credit card was accessed and used by a hacker to purchase a million-peso worth of food for delivery.

"My credit card has just been hacked! May nag order ng P1M worth of food sa Food Panda in less than an hour. Ano yan lauriat para sa buong barangay???" Gatchalian said on Twitter.

Gatchalian attached a screenshot of the transactions which showed that four purchases were charged in the afternoon of January 5.

The amount for each transaction ranged from P96,265 to P356,517.

"The hacker managed to change my registered phone number so he got the OTPs. He knew what he was doing. I just don't know how he will eat a million worth of food," the senator said.

In an interview on Dobol B sa News TV, Gatchalian said he did not notice the notifications via SMS and e-mail on attempts to change his phone number as he was in a Senate hearing.

He was not able to receive one-time passwords anymore for the transactions that the hacker made for the rest of the day, except for one which gave him a hunch that something wrong was going on.

"Bandang huli, mayroong isang transaction na nakalusot at Foodpanda na worth P60,000 so nagduda na ako doon, tinawagan ko 'yung Union Bank at inimbestigahan na nila kaagad," the senator said.

The bank was able to swiftly cut his credit card.

"Kaya ako magpa-file ng police report kasi kailangan din makausap 'yung Foodpanda para ma-trace nila kung sino nag-oorder at anong establisimyento ang pinag-oorderan," Gatchalian said.

He said he will not pay for the P1 million that was charged to the credit card.

"Obviously hindi natin babayaran 'yun dahil hindi naman tayo nag-order. 'Yung mga ganitong cases, 'yung bangko ang nag-aabsorb at saka alam ko may insurance 'yan na pwede nilang i-claim,'' he said.

The senator added that he will check if there are enough safeguards for other consumers in the country when it comes to credit card and other online transactions. —KG, GMA News