Banks tell clients to be vigilant vs cybercriminals

MANILA, Philippines — The banking public should remain vigilant amid the increasing number of online fraud such as phishing and other cybercrimes amid the pandemic.

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) said cybercriminals are creating more methods to defraud the public.

“We would like to remind the customers that banks regularly communicate the best practices that the public can utilize to ensure their cybersafety. We call on everyone to be aware of these reminders and apply them so that cybercriminals will fail in their attacks,” the BAP said in a statement.

According to the BAP, member banks continued to make investments related to cybersecurity to protect the personal data of the banking public at all times.

“We would also like to assure the public that all banks have rigorous protocols when it comes to investigating cybercrimes in order for these criminals to be apprehended and penalized,” the group said.

The organization pointed out that ensuring everyone’s security in cyberspace must be a joint effort between banks and their clients.

The BAP also supports the call of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for collaboration among stakeholders such as law enforcement agencies, regulators, banking industry and the public at large to gather and share knowledge about cyber threats.

“This will allow for a swift creation of measures that would prevent these threats from harming Filipinos,” it said.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said the regulator is pushing for the enactment of a law which would further enhance consumer protection as the number of complaints continues to grow amid the complexity of financial products and services as well as the increased adoption of digitalization in the country amid the pandemic.