Aboitiz-owned Union Bank of the Philippines (Unionbank) has pinned down at least six “persons of interest” in their investigation of fraudulent bank accounts involved in the BDO Unibank Inc. hacking incident over the weekend.

Unionbank Senior Executive Vice President Henry R. Aguda, in a virtual press briefing Wednesday, Dec. 15, said they have so far identified “a handful” or at least six individuals as culprits in the cybercrime and their accounts have been frozen. He, however, did not identify the suspects.

“We’re pursuing the investigation of fraudulent activities and we have already frozen the money in the identified accounts in Unionbank,” said Aguda, who is also the bank’s chief technology and operations officer.

He also said they continue to coordinate with their counterparts at the BDO “on how to proceed with the frozen amount.”

BDO said Tuesday, Dec. 14, that they are reimbursing 700 of the affected accounts and are already in the process of releasing the stolen cash.

Aguda said they are also in close coordination with the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation.

“We will be providing all the necessary information to them as well as to the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas). We urge the public to just remain vigilant and be informed,” said Aguda.

During the online press briefing, which was Unionbank’s 13th E-Media Talk Tales and the last for 2021 to discuss the bank’s milestones 2022 trends, Aguda also made an appeal to the public and financial consumers not to be money mules, intentional or unintentional.

“Please report any mule activites,” he said. Mules, he explained, are individuals who sell their accounts for whatever purposes.

“We want to reiterate that selling bank accounts and fraudulent opening of bank accounts are punishable by several criminal offenses,” said Aguda.

“We’re doing everything we can to help the victims,” he added. “As one of the receiving banks, Unionbank stands in solidarity with the entire banking industry and the relevant government agencies in fighting against the cyber criminals,” he also said.

The BSP has created its own task force to investigate the BDO hacking incident last Saturday.

BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said the task force will submit a recommendation in 30 days on the penalties and sanctions that will be imposed on the erring banks involved.

Diokno said the BSP will also identify vulnerabilities and non-compliance with central bank expectations in managing cyber and anti-money laundering related risk.

Last Sunday, Dec. 12, both the BSP and BDO issued their assurances to financial customers that the government and the industry remain vigilant agianst cyber crimes.

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) also released a statement reminding the public not to be a victim of cybercrime by giving away personal information such as One-Time Password to other people.

BAP president Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso said the public should “read the newspapers, follow your banks on Facebook, and watch your favorite social media influencers to know how to be safe while banking online.”