Senate to probe credit card fraud, unauthorized bank transactions —Gatchalian

The Senate is set to proceed with its investigation into the cases of credit card fraud and other unauthorized bank transactions, which revealed the lack of necessary mechanisms under current laws to ensure consumer protection.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, vice chairperson of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, made the remark on Wednesday after he himself fell victim to an unauthorized use of his own credit card to purchase P1 million-worth of food deliveries.

“Mula noong ibinunyag natin ang pambibiktima sa aking credit card hanggang ngayon ay hindi humihinto ang pagdagsa ng mga reklamo na natatanggap ng aking opisina mula sa mga biktima ng unauthorized online bank fund transfers at credit card transactions,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“Hindi alam ng mga kawawang biktima kung saan nila maidudulog ang kanilang mga hinaing. Dagdag pa rito ang kawalan ng mabilis na proseso para matugunan agad ang kanilang mga reklamo,” he added.

According to Gatchalian, the inquiry will focus on looking into the efforts of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other banks in safeguarding consumers against nefarious individuals.

He said he is also considering filing a bill mandating consumer protection and education as primary and strategic objectives of financial regulators to enable them to address financial inclusion and minimize incidents of credit card fraud.

This would spare victims of fraudulent and unauthorized bank and credit card transactions from a lengthy litigation process, he added.

“It’s like a double whammy for the victims who already lost their hard-earned money to fraudsters and then spend some more just so justice could be served,” Gatchalian said.

“Aside from consumer protection, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed especially on the aspect of cyber security — the challenges and best practices.  Banks are very attractive targets for hackers and scammers especially during this time of the pandemic,” he added.—AOL, GMA News