The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center on Thursday warned customers of GCash from clicking fake emails allegedly sent by the country’s biggest mobile payment service.
CICC executive director Alexander Ramos said scammers have been sending emails via Viber and Facebook Messenger instead of the usual SMS messages.
The email message reads: “Good day from GCash. We would like to inform you that your account is under review. We request you to verify your account to continually access our eWallet services.”
The email message includes a link where the customer is supposed to provide personal and account details.
“We always advise the public to avoid clicking any link from unknown or suspicious senders,” Ramos said.
“Scammers used to send such links through SMS but now they have found another platform,” he said.
Ramos said the number of scam text messages have declined significantly since the implementation of the SIM Registration Act on 27 December 2022.
“The scammers are bypassing our SMS systems by using email as senders or via social media like Viber and FB Messengers,” he lamented.
Last year, GCash blocked four million accounts and took down 810 phishing sites and 45,000 malicious social media posts.
GCash is a Filipino mobile payments service owned and operated by Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. Some 94 million Filipinos have tried GCash and around six million merchant sellers and 935,000 small-scale community merchants are already on board the platform.
Victims of online scam are encouraged to report and call 1326, the hotline of the Inter-Agency Response Center.
