Landbank coordinates with NBI, DepEd in phishing probe
Government-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) is closely coordinating with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe and resolve the alleged phishing scam that victimized many of its teacher clients.
“We will actively participate in this investigation and extend full cooperation to the NBI with the end in mind of further securing our depositors’ hard-earned money,” said Landbank President and CEO, Cecilia C. Borromeo on Saturday, Jan. 29.
“We are also reaching out to the affected teachers and conducting an internal investigation on their complaints. In the meantime, we assure our clients and the general public that Landbank’s systems remain stable and secured,” said Borromeo.
The NBI has started its probe on the alleged phishing schemes after an order from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Borromeo said the bank is also working with DepEd to validate the list of affected teachers.
Borromeo reiterated that Landbank is strictly implementing security measures such as the use of the client’s mobile number to receive One-Time Passwords (OTPs) in authenticating digital financial transactions when using its Mobile Banking App or iAccess, instead of email.
“Clients with outdated mobile phone numbers linked to their online banking accounts must update their phone number with Landbank,” said the bank. “They are advised to visit the iAccess website, download and fill-out the enrollment form, and send the completed form to their branch of account with a copy of a valid ID. They may also use the self-service option found in the iAccess to update their iAccess profile,” it added.
Last Jan. 24, when reports of the alleged hacking and phishing first came out, Landbank immediately issued a denial that its systems had been compromised.
It said the bank was not hacked but the clients’ device securities were breached instead.
Landbank also clarified that its systems remain secure and its initial investigation showed that it was the affected teachers’ devices that were hacked via phishing “which compromised their personal information.”