GCash working w/ NPC, BSP over phishing incident

GCash has stated that it is working with both the National Privacy Commission (NPC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) after reports of account deductions circulated in the past week.

“We have been in constant coordination with the authorities and regulatory bodies like the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and National Privacy Commission (NPC) in providing the necessary information required of us,” said GCash in an official statement about the phishing incident.

GCash reiterated that no hacking nor glitch occurred in the GCash platform and that it was a deliberate phishing attempt that happened outside of the GCash app.

“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,” GCash said.

“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.

According to GCash, they are also working with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to bolster their efforts in going after would-be scammers and fraudsters.

The mobile payments service also called upon the NPC to reinforce efforts in educating the public on the importance of being vigilant in securing their personal and private information.

In particular to their service, GCash reiterated that [it] “will NEVER send personal messages to address concerns or ask for your MPIN, OTP or other personal information.”

You can read the full explanation and statement regarding the GCash phishing incident here.