MARK D. Nagoyo could not have chosen a better time to unleash his virulent attacks on the banking system via the Internet. First, local banks are recovering from the slump that the two-year COVID-19 pandemic engendered. Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the banking industry’s non-performing loans (NPL) inched down 0.49% to P483.98 billion as of October from P486.362 billion at end-September. This brings the banks’ NPL ratio to its lowest since April this year.
Nagoyo is obviously a fake, assumed name chosen by the master scammer to even insult his/her victims (“nagoyo” in Filipino means “you have been had” or “you have been scammed”). His/her modus operandi is to hack individual bank accounts of BDO depositors, skimming from P25,000 to P100,000 each, and transferring the money to private multiple accounts with UnionBank. The funds were later withdrawn and used to buy Bitcoin.
‘Banks, with the help of the
government, need to invest more
in improving their security structures as scammers and cybercriminals have become more sophisticated
in their fraud techniques.’
Exacerbating the financial damage of clients is the fact that they surely need the money for their Christmas shopping and gift-giving. The assurance of Ms. Tessie Sy, chairperson of BDO, that their losses will be reimbursed is good news that cancels the bad, although it will take some time to do this because of the ongoing investigation.
Bangko Sentral Gov. Benjamin Diokno said he is closely working with the two banks to ascertain the extent of the damage done by this new financial scandal.
Diokno said: “We are in close coordination with BDO as well as UBP on this incident to ensure that remedial measures are being undertaken, including reimbursement of affected consumers. Rest assured that we continue to collaborate and engage stakeholders to ensure the safety and integrity of the financial system as well as the protection of financial consumers.”
Sy directed the online clients of BDO Unibank to change their passwords as an immediate precaution. She said changing the password improves account security and prevents fraudsters from accessing their clients’ accounts. The BDO chairwoman assured that they have “already implemented additional security controls to block further attempts and continue to protect bank credentials. Most recently, we have required our online banking users to update their passwords.”
As the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) urged the public to increase their vigilance due to the rising number of cybercrime incidents, several of those who suffered financial losses pointed out that they have meticulously taken all precautions needed and recommended in the conduct of online banking and they can do no further in the area of security.
Banks, with the help of the government, need to invest more in improving their security structures as scammers and cybercriminals have become more sophisticated in their fraud techniques.
