The Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) further strengthened its advocacy towards the responsible use of credit cards and enhanced protection of cardholders by rallying its member-issuers behind its ongoing #FightBudol campaign.
The country’s 18 major credit card players comprising CCAP marked Fraud Awareness Week last July 18 to 22 by simultaneously mounting social media campaigns that aimed to educate and raise awareness among Filipino consumers on fighting credit card fraud.
CCAP figures showed fraudulent credit card activities via remote and other digital payment channels increased by 21% in the country since the start of the global pandemic, which forced customers to shift to remote and other digital payments to deal with face-to-face restrictions.
“Fraud cases have been on the rise due to the growing acceptance of various digital payment platforms, causing financial detriment to the industry,” said CCAP executive director Alex Ilagan.
CCAP said consumers must watch out for these four modi operandi or new ways scammers or fraudsters use to lure their victims:
Surrendered Cards Scam. This is a type of fraud in which the fraudster tricks the victim into surrendering the card by posing as a bank personnel and offering higher credit card limits and lifetime waiver of annual fees. What you should do: Never surrender your card to anyone. Banks will never ask you to submit your credit card for replacements or upgrades. Dispose of your old credit cards properly by punching holes on their magnetic strip or chip to ensure they cannot be reused by anyone.
Account Takeover. This is when a fraudster calls up the customer service of the bank, aiming to take over and gain access to a victim’s account. The fraudster will pretend to be the customer, try to answer all the positive ID verification, and request changes on the account such as mobile number and card delivery address. These changes are meant to intercept the One Time Passwords (OTPs) sent by banks for ecommerce transactions. What you should do: Be alert and read bank notifications about any changes made on your credit card account. If you received such notification or OTPs for transactions which you did not perform, call your bank immediately.