Senate inquiry on bank-related scams sought
Published May 10, 2023 06:51 am
Senator Mark A. Villar on Wednesday May 10, sought a Senate inquiry into alleged continued proliferation of bank-related scams and frauds.
This followed the filing by Villar of Senate Resolution 589 which asked the Senate leadership to direct the appropriate committee to conduct the hearing "with the end goal of strengthening the existing legal framework."
Villar, chairman of the Senate banks, financial institutions and currencies committee, said that from 2019-2021, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) complaints lodged by the consumers involved a total of P2-billion worth of financial transactions.Â
These losses were due to scams as well as hacking and phishing incidents.
The Villar resolution stated that the BSP received 42,456 complaints from consumers who became victims of financial fraud in 2020 and 2021.Â
Complaints related to the use of internet banking and mobile banking account covers 45.2 percent of the total complaints in 2021.
It also stated that phishing and identity theft were the top online fraud concerns in the Philippines last year.
The resolution also said that based on the 2023 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report, 8.7 percent of the digital transactions were suspected to be fraudulent last year. Accordingly, this was the third highest among all countries included in the study,
"Recent news reports showed that there is a proliferation of bank related scams and frauds which victimized the public, including teachers, senior citizens, and businesses," it stated.
"There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of the mechanisms  resorted by the banks to prevent bank frauds and scams, and to ensure that the banks, with highest degree of diligence, shall prioritize and protect the interests of the bankers and of the public," it added.
Villar emphasized that "the banking system is an indispensable institution in the modern world and plays a vital role in the economic life of every civilized nation."
"Whether as mere passive entities for the safekeeping and saving of money or as active instruments of business and commerce, banks have become a ubiquitous presence among the people, who have come to regard them with respect and even gratitude and, most of all, confidence," he added.