Senator Win Gatchalian on Friday, Nov. 19 made a renewed call for the inclusion of additional security measures involving telecommunication companies to ensure consumer protection in light of a recent scam utilizing sim cards.
Gatchalian, who is vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies pressed for enhanced redress mechanisms and information security measures of telecommunications companies and banking institutions. He said that the resurgence of cybercrimes by nefarious individuals should be anticipated this early given the nearing of the holiday season.
The senator cited a recent incident mentioned in a newspaper column on how a housewife’s credit card was charged P1.7 million after her SIM card was replaced by fraudsters to underhandedly carry out online credit card transactions. The matter is now being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“It’s incumbent upon telcos and banks to provide an added layer of protection to consumers considering the rise in the number of digital transactions following the outbreak of the pandemic,” Gatchalian said.
According to him, his Senate Bill 2287 or the proposed Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act seeks to expand the powers of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and other financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Insurance Commission (IC) and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) to perform acts necessary for the protection of financial consumers.
Gatchalian said this would ensure consumers a prompt and more efficient process when seeking reparation in financial transactions as warranted by financial regulators, sparing them from resorting to legal recourse in courts if their claim involves a return of money from a financial service provider.
“Information security is a shared responsibility. The public should be equally careful in divulging their personal information or allowing others to use their personal information,” Gatchalian said.
He urged the public to encourage government agencies to come up with education and awareness campaigns.