The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) vowed over the weekend to conduct an objective probe on the unauthorized fund transfers involving GCash accounts.
CICC executive director Alexander K. Ramos met with GCash representatives on May 12 at the National Cybercrime Hub in BGC in Taguig City, to determine the real nature and scope of the incident which resulted in unauthorized transfers of money from hundreds of GCash accounts.
During the meeting, Ramos directed the GCash representatives led by Gilbert Escoto, head of its legal department, and Gibs Gumapo of its security department, to submit a report on the circumstances of the incident.
“The CICC assures GCash and the public of the objectivity of its probe on whether there were lapses in GCash’s security system, and if warranted, make recommendations to GCash moving forward to ensure that public interest is safeguarded,” Ramos said.
GCash earlier said there was no hacking nor glitch that occurred in the e-wallet platform.
“The incident last 8 May 2023, was a deliberate phishing attempt that happened outside of the GCash app,” the company said in a statement.
“Some users may have unknowingly shared their information to suspicious sites masked as legitimate brands or institutions. Upon detection of these unusual transactions, GCash immediately activated security protocols, and deployed its preventive security measures. This swift action enabled us to mitigate the impact to our customers, which was why we were able to correct their e-wallet balances immediately within 24 hours,” it added.
GCash also noted that signed a memorandum of agreement with the CICC in 2022 in a bid to strengthen collaboration in going after perpetrators involved in phishing, smishing, online fraud and scams, vishing, and other cybercrimes that target GCash users.
GCash said it has already blocked 3.1 million fraudulent accounts. The e-wallet has also taken down 722 phishing sites and 38,000 malicious social media posts and accounts from January 2022 to April 2023.
