Re-electionist senator Sherwin Gatchalian has called on telecommunications companies and banking institutions to enhance consumer protection in the light of recent cyber heists through subscriber identity module (SIM) swap scam.
Gatchalian took note of a recent incident relayed 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.
“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 stressed.
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 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.
“Dala ng pangangailangan, asahan na natin ang paglobo ng mga iligal na gawain ng mga hackers. Obligasyon ng mga kumpanyang nagbibigay serbisyo sa mga online transactions na siguruhing protektado ang mga kliyente nila,” the senator said.
