An attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has vowed to investigate the unauthorized fund transfers involving hundreds of GCash accounts earlier this week. (Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center)
DICT’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) disclosed that they met with GCash representatives on Friday, May 12, to determine the nature and scope of the said incident. “The CICC assures the public and GCash of the objectivity of its probe on whether there were lapses in GCash security system, and if warranted, make recommendations to GCash moving forward to ensure that public interest is safeguarded,” said CICC Executive Director Alexander Ramos in a press statement. This was also confirmed by DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy in a Laging Handa public briefing on Friday, saying that the agency, with the help of CICC and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), is already investigating the fiasco. E-wallet giant GCash earlier stated that no hacking was involved in these unauthorized fund transfers and that users’ money are safe. Uy, however, stressed that this has to be investigated by the authorities to ascertain whether the service provider is telling the truth or not. Meanwhile, Filipinos were told to be vigilant against electronic communication-aided crimes such as mobile phishing. “Huwag maniwala sa tawag o text na nanggaling sa di kilalang numero na humihingi ng personal details. Use legitimate applications, huwag mag click ng links dahil hindi ito ginagawa ng lehitimong mga banko o e-wallet system (Do not entertain calls or texts from unknown numbers asking for personal details. Use legitimate applications, and do not click on suspicious links because legitimate banks or e-wallet systems do not do this),” Uy said.